

Ask HN: When is an Idea/Startup Dead? - ezrider4428

So i started a startup back in April with a few friends and we worked really hard to build a prototype and we talked with a bunch of potential customers; we pivoted twice and now its just sitting there not completely finished and making no money.<p>Is it dead?<p>When i tell people about the idea they say "thats a good idea." Which makes me want to keep it going and start working on it again but i dont want to waste time on something that is a dead fish.<p>When do you know if an idea/startup is dead?  Does anyone have any insights or a checklist?
======
pedalpete
Have you followed up with the potential customers you spoke to?

Did they get to see the almost finished product?

It could be dead, or it could be that you're killing it. If you're asking the
question, I suggest you may be killing it.

I was in a similar situation in April. I had build a web-app for businesses to
schedule their employees. Everybody said it was a great idea, I showed the
product around and the businesses said they liked what it did, and asked for a
few features to be added.

I ended up getting it into beta testing, and a few more feature requests came
in, but the beta testers stopped using it. When I asked them why they weren't
using it, I got all sorts of reasons that had nothing to do with the product,
more like - this person didn't have access to internet at home (which means
that they didn't get the old schedule either), we'll start using it when you
have monthly labour cost totals (also something they don't have with excel),
etc. etc.

I decided that the product just didn't strike the nerve I was hoping it would.

People can get really excited about an idea and give you a bunch of input and
feedback, but you'll know if you've struck a nerve based on usage.

