2 builders who never spoke to each other

Pick the trade first, let an insider give the problem

Commit to a defined group of professionals before you commit to an idea, then keep interviewing until a painful problem shows up. Recruit one experienced practitioner to stay involved throughout, because the person who describes the problem is usually your first buyer.

The method

1. 01

   Extract the idea from a market instead of inventing it: talk to a specific trade until you find a painful problem software could solve, and the person describing it becomes your first customer.

2. 02

   Commit to a targeted niche even before you know which one, and keep interviewing until a painful problem shows up.

3. 03

   Recruit one established practitioner from your target trade and check in with them at every stage of development rather than at the end.

What it returned

• Credits Dane Maxwell for the framing; his most successful software projects had all originally been someone else's idea

• Candidate niches listed as programmers, construction companies, marketers, insurance agents, landscapers, real estate agents, web designers and lawyers

• The founder lists consulting an experienced wedding planner throughout as the thing he would change, having built for three years on assumptions.

Sources

• Starting The Web App Challenge: From Zero to $5,000/month In 6 MonthsNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Frequently Asked Questions · 2012-12-31
• Eventloot: Failing to Listen Feedback Means $20,000 LossJustin Anyanwu · failory.com · Were there any things that could have been made in a better way? · undated