
Ask HN: Making experiments actually work? - stuckthrowaway
Our startup is seed funded and we&#x27;ve built some stuff but are still pre-product&#x2F;market fit. I (founder) am worried we might be on the wrong track. I&#x27;ve read The Lean Startup but our attempts to test and learn don&#x27;t seem to be as significant as we hoped.<p>For example, I went to a store where the sorts of users we&#x27;re targeting would shop, and asked some questions of about 6 of them. At the time it felt really interesting, but it hasn&#x27;t really changed our plan.<p>Are we doing it wrong? Is the whole experiment and learn thing just hype or do others get stuck?
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shimon
Yes, you're doing it wrong. If you're not learning something significant, i.e.
that changes what you build, then you're probably testing the wrong thing.

One way to focus more is to look at what you're currently planning to build,
and then figure out what risks that would test. And then look for other ways
to assess those same risks.

A classic article on this: [https://hackernoon.com/the-mvp-is-dead-long-live-
the-rat-233...](https://hackernoon.com/the-mvp-is-dead-long-live-the-
rat-233d5d16ab02)

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PaulHoule
A bit of both.

A counterexample to "lean startup" is one of the products that you see on TV
informercials: the garden hose that expands when you turn on the water.

If you talked to gardeners, homeowners, etc. you might get some grousing about
how their garden hose is awkward but probably no one would tell you they need
a garden hose that expands.

Some guy got the idea for that, developed it, got a patent, and started
selling it. Other people saw it was a hit product and found ways to make
expanding garden hoses that don't infringe the original patent.

~~~
stuckthrowaway
Good example and cool product. But we have a SaaS product with a pretty clear
vision and are trying to hook some early users. Does this mean we should keep
building functionality?

