Ask HN: How to stay 'stealth', but get enough user/market feedback? - f_io
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davismwfl
To me, unless you are reasonably well known, with significant available funds
or investor backing then staying stealth is the same as just never starting.
Stealth = death for a little or unknown team or founder.

That isn't saying you aren't capable or your idea isn't good, but go with the
numbers and don't try to be stealth.

From personal experience, it is generally hard to get people to listen to you
about your startup initially. So what you learn is generally you are doing it
right when you talk to every person that will give you 30 seconds. That is how
you revise your pitch, revise your positioning etc. If you aren't saying it
enough then you will fail.

Worse yet, the failure of a "stealth" startup is usually slow because you get
focused on product first, client second which is not usually how you will make
a software startup successful. You also won't have gotten enough feedback to
keep you from spending money in the wrong places, and you won't have enough
traction to really convince people you are doing something worth paying
attention to.

The couple startups I can think of that were stealth and are doing good now
both had reasonably well known founders, significant monetary resources and in
at least 1 case had already landed large enterprise clients they were working
with before they even started writing code. So they were stealth only in that
they were not making announcements or doing the common startup marketing
things we all have come to expect. But they weren't stealth in that people
knew basically what problems they were trying to solve, and knew they already
had clients.

An advisor told me once not to worry about the guy trying to steal your idea,
just keep inventing and working harder as someone will always "borrow" your
idea or come out with a competing product etc. And competition in the end is
good for you if you keep executing. Executing well solves almost all problems.

~~~
f_io
Thanks a lot for your long answer. Really good points!

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Mz
I am _nobody_ but I have had to actively lower my profile. Historically, I
tended to attract a lot of attention in a way that goes bad places. I have
worked hard to figure out how to get more attention on my work and off of _me_
per se. So, some lessons learned:

You can _stay stealth_ while getting early users by doing one or more the
following:

1) Brainstorm a list of ways to frame the concept. Find one that is low key,
boring as hell and sounds anything but _revolutionary_. Just indicate "We
slightly tweak (totally ordinary thing)."

2) Use a social medium to reach out to people who seem like they might be
interested. Offer them a private invitation in exchange for feedback.

3) Get initial feedback from friends/family/some other limited social circle
where you feel comfortable talking to them and you feel they might have some
clue what they are talking about.

4) Be as public as you want without actively promoting it, but be careful to
not give away the secret sauce part of the idea.

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tixocloud
Without a product/market fit or a brand, there's really no super reason to
stay stealth unless it's top secret tech, in which case, check out some
patents. If your idea is easy to copy, it will be copied when you launch. If
you're worth copying, that means there could be a business to build.

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DrNuke
You surely have a plan from having studied competitors and their weaknesses.
You also have a domain-specific network to target after you go public or soon
before to start with traction. Finally, a tailored landing page / media pack
for the buzz and the early birds.

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hackerboos
Nobody is going to steal your idea. If there is actual risk of this then use
patents and copyright to the best of your ability.

Your startup is likely to fail if you are not shouting it from the rooftops.
Only established brands are able to pull off stealth effectively.

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dyeje
Why do you need to stay stealth?

