Comment by DanielBMarkham | Hacker News Reader

Comment by DanielBMarkham | Hacker News Reader

I didn't like this, and I'm struggling with how to explain it. After all, these are excellent and insightful questions.

I think the reason is that people are unable to answer these questions -- it's the type of question that can only easily be answered by an outsider, or by somebody two years after their startup idea didn't work. So while the questions themselves may be very good -- perhaps as a way to help your friends -- asking them to yourself doesn't seem very worthwhile.

Especially troubling was the one about loving what you're doing. The more infatuated you are with some idea of yours, the worse off you are. A better question might be whether or not you can stick it out for the years necessary for things to happen. Yes, if you love something that's all great, but reality distortion fields are not so fun to live in when the world is tremendously apathetic to your cause. A character that can work hard and pivot on something they logically feel might work is much more desired, in my opinion, than simple "love what you do". My dog loves fetching sticks. It really doesn't add that much value.

Having said that, you should love the value you provide -- the part about people wanting what you make. But that's just being a good person.

I don't know. I'm sorry to be so critical. The article just didn't sit well with me.

I'm sticking with "Make something people want that scales easily." I can derive questions from that starting point.

I raised the same sentiment in my comment (below). First, there isn't 3 questions. It's technically about 6 questions, with a statement thrown in there. Second, the answers are by no means simple. I (possibly like you) was expecting three straight forward questions that were a silver bullet to understanding how to validate my start-up idea.

Thought-provoking perspective, possibly... differentiated from the validation that the lean start-up promises, not really.

My feeling is that the first question is only answerable by the market. That answer is never certain. You're only as sure as the effort/time/money you put into reaching the market to answer it.

The second question is easier to get an estimate for, but you probably defined your market incorrectly (especially if you're not solving your own problem).

The last one is sticky. It reminds me of BSG. The human capacity for self-deception is without bound...

That said, it's still useful to struggle with these questions periodically. Startups are all about the fight. You'll never have certain answers. Measure, learn, and adjust.

What is BSG?

Battlestar Galactica, I assume. The story is about self-deception among other topics.

Ha! No shit. I thought it was some business-related term... Thanks for clearing that up.

Perhaps you are right that, being a new startup founder, asking these questions to yourself may not help a lot. But I have no easy way to know that. Only someone who is new and is currently evaluating his startup idea can give me that feedback. In fact, I would love to have that kind of feedback.

But from my limited sample size of interaction with 4-5 new founders, I think the framework I laid out helped them get at least some clarity. Maybe that was because I asked them questions, or maybe it was because of questions themselves.

I am evaluating my startup idea and the first question work well for me. There is a huge system around us constantly praising cool things, and its easy to get in to a trap of building something that is cool.

Personally, I stick with Color and AirBNB. Color (the original app) was the epitome of cool. They were building something different, were innovative but I found little value in their product. AirBNB (if you take away their immense success) is a generic idea which has done well thanks to fantastic execution. Color and AirBNB are on two extreme ends. I stick with Tim O' Reilly's work on stuff that matters call.

The second question is 'the question'. Whether there is market or not, I will only know after my product is out in open.

Your third question doesn't apply to someone who is in the evaluating idea stage. At this stage, you are leaving everything to jump in to your startup, so you obviously love it.

You might be able to tell whether there is a market for your product today.

Does your product have any competitors? Find people who are using your competitors' products. E-mail them this afternoon and see if they're interested in what you're building.

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