3 builders who never spoke to each other

Put something crude in their hands

Three rough screens drawn an hour earlier change the conversation more than any description of the plan, because the other person now has something to react to. Holding an unfinished product back until you are proud of it is what keeps you without feedback.

The method

1. 01

   Bring something visual to a pitch even if it is three rough screens made an hour earlier, because the conversation changes once there is a product to react to.

2. 02

   Hand over the unfinished product when someone offers to try it; refusing because it is not ready is what keeps you without feedback.

3. 03

   Hand a deliberately crude prototype to founders you already know, and treat an unsolicited offer to pay as your green light.

What it returned

• The interview went badly until he shared three wireframes drawn in the waiting room, after which the questions turned to the product and the market.

• Zue's attempts to get people onto Pegasus all fell through, partly for fit reasons and partly because he was too hesitant to give them something he considered unfinished.

• Sprig's first version was a small SDK that cycled through three questions covering functionality, usability and quality, with Airtable as the store and results handed over as a spreadsheet. Recipients said they would be first in line as customers and offered money.

Sources

• Reflections on my time in Y CombinatorChris Frantz · chrisfrantz.com · 2022-08-22
• ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Cory Zue · coryzue.com · What’s going on with Pegasus? · 2019-05-10
• How the most successful B2B startups came up with their original ideaRyan Glasgow · lennysnewsletter.com · Path 3: Present pull · 2023-08-08