
How to check the viability of a startup idea - mistiaen
I thought it would be cool to share with each other how to check the viability of your startup idea.<p>To kick off, I'll share with you what I do whenever an idea pops to mind.<p>1) Adwords keyword tool
First I go to the Adwords keyword tool, to find out if people actually are looking for my idea/future product. You can check per keyword how many searches per month there have been done and if there's a lot of (SEO) competition.<p>2) Surveys
I setup a survey for potential customers. In the survey I try to find out if my assumptions are right. I use this survey for step 3 and 4.<p>3) Run Google ads
Running Google ads is a great way of checking my assumptions. I emphasize different benefits per ad. This way I can check what benefit appeals the most. The more clicks, the more important this benefit is, the more this should be the focus point of the product.
The ad leads to my survey. Not so many people take the time to fill it in, but still it is some extra data.<p>4) Meet with potential customers
Although I always find it hard to take this step, I know it's important. These meetings can motivate tremendously, can force to iterate my idea, or make me decide it was a stupid idea.
The survey comes in handy in these meetings as well, btw.<p>So that's my viability-check. I'm wondering what you do to check viability. Looking forward to your ideas and advice!<p>ps. I'm sorry if I made some mistakes in my English. I'm no native speaker and I know that especially grammar tenses are not my forte...
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bloodcarter
Henry Ford once said that, if he’d asked his customers what they wanted,
they’d have asked for a faster horse.

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humj
That's not to say you shouldnt ask what they want. What you have to do as a
visionary is to interpret their answers into what it is that they really need.

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bloodcarter
True. But here I agree with Fred Wilson (<http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/02/mba-
tuesday.html>).

He says: "Early in a startup, product decisions should be hunch driven. Later
on, product decisions should be data driven."

I talked to Jack Dorsey of Twitter about quite the same topic when he was in
Russia last Feb. And he didn't tell me he asked people a lot before starting.
He just built something around idea he had a strong obsession about and
everything else is a history.

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humj
Agreed. I think we might be talking semantics here. It just depends what you
consider to be asking the users. The Henry Ford quote is just meant to say
that you can't take advice from users literally because they'll only tell you
what they're already used to. To me, asking the users is not a literal asking,
but rather, a questioning the shortcomings and potentials of the current
environment.

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petervandijck
In the UX community, it's well known that you don't ask people what they want,
which is why they have all those clever UX research methods.

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RiderOfGiraffes
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2232357>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2034790>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2194110>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2193075>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2115146>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2079237>

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swombat
You should rename yourself RiderOfEncyclopedicKnowledgeOfHNDuplicates :-)

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RiderOfGiraffes
I know I'm giving away my secrets, but:

<http://searchyc.com/submissions/startup+idea?sort=by_date>

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mapster
You have a great method and you will one day strike the right vein.

My assessment, from being a student of entrepreneurship, is that the success
stories reflect a mixed bag. Some are methodical and swear by it (ask, build,
deliver), and others are hunch oriented and lucky, though the latter is
clearly a much larger risk and the path to profitability akin to winning a
lottery.

What do the Ivy League MBA's have to say on this?

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thegato
Ummm... By this method, the Ipad doesn't get made. Fail.

