Ask HN: I have a good idea and a POC... Now what? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I have a good idea and a POC... Now what?

5 pointsearlz6 comments

So, I'm a young-ish(less than 25) programmer who enjoys creating things. New things. However, I find it hard to meet people I can discuss my ideas and projects with in detail. I have over a dozen half finished proof of concepts, but I rarely can get beyond that point. The big thing being that I just can't build any "anonymous" steam on any of my projects.

Most of my projects are open source, and this is where I get to hear crickets most of the time.. which is OK. I write code because I enjoy it, not because people like my projects.

Anyway, so now with a change of pace I have an (at least) initially proprietary project I've been working on. I have an ugly, but functional proof of concept. A semi-clear way to monetize it. And even a plan on how to initially promote it. However, I'm missing one huge piece in this whole equation: Feedback. I have absolutely no feedback right now, which is quite demotivating. I'm to the point that I could show someone my application and get feedback, but I can't just publicly show it because it's so ugly and incomplete. I need someone who can share in my vision and see the end goal and point me in the right direction to get there.

Technically, I think this is basically a cofounder. But, I'm not sure I'd want someone by the title of "cofounder". I'm fairly committed to this project in my freetime, but I'm not going to be quitting my day job or anything like that.

At one point I turned to WeekendHacker to try to get feedback, but that website seems gone beyond recovery with how little activity is seen there now. I don't want to do some freelance thing. I want someone who I can get feedback from

I'm young. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm just creating something I genuinely wish already existed. Now what? I've proved it's feasible but don't know the next steps I should take. I need someone to bounce ideas off of and to generally guide me with the things that are beyond my skillset. What do I do?

In 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' there is a section that discusses using a shim, made from a beer can, to fix loose handlebars on a motorcycle. The bike's owner walks away, preferring loose handlebars to a cheap solution. You need to find the people who want the problem solved so badly that they'll use a beer can, or your ugly/incomplete code, to solve their problem.

To do that, start with a customer profile. Answer the following questions: What is the problem? How is it solved? What is needed to implement the solution? Who can implement it (are there any barriers like equipment, technical expertise)? How do you reach them?

Once you know who to contact, it is a great deal easier to find them. Contact those people. Listen to what they say about the problem. Ask yourself – does my code address this problem? If not, fix the code, or call a different potential customer (actually, do both).

Document what people say. You'll learn what the real pain point is, you'll learn how other people have dealt with it, and you'll learn whether you are contacting the right potential customers.

If your product does address the problem, ask the person to buy your solution. You can offer a discount rate for being a trial customer. Get their feedback. If you can sell it, as is, to 1% of the people you contact, then you have a business (which is a whole new set of problems). If not, restart at an earlier stage. Maybe the code doesn't solve the right problem, or maybe you pitched the wrong customers?

It should be a creative learning process, and you seem to enjoy that already. If you want to bounce around more ideas, feel free to get in touch.

You could always post it on HN :)

I'm a bit older-ish (27) and from my experience, trying to keep your ideas to yourself is not really productive. Ideas are dime a dozen and the best way to get feedback is to hand it out to people (even unfinished hacky proofs of concept will do).

You could always go to family and friends, but there are two problems with this approach:

1. They may not be tech-inclined in which case they won't really "get" it.

2. They are your friends and family. They will, 90% of the time, give you positive reinforcement. Trust me. Nobody loves you as much as your mom does ;)

Finally, I just want to say that random "idea advice" is generally pretty worthless anyway (even from random people on the internet). You won't see any genuine feedback until you have customers, not just some guy flipping through a couple of your pages going "I think the sign-in button should be bluer" or something to that effect. I would urge you to finish an alpha version and test it on a couple of potential/real customers. That's the absolute only way you'll get any poignant advice.

I just want to add that a co-founder should bring something very real to the deal, not just a critical eye (you know what they say about opinions).

I'll start with a general disclaimer for what you're looking for in feedback. When you get a "crickets" or a polite "looks promising" response, it indicates you are currently missing the mark, either in the concept or the marketing(and the two are very, very intermingled). There's a dramatic, intangible, "know it when you see it" difference when something gets the response you need to achieve some real growth. And you do need the broad audience to be sure, because in private, a small group of people can convince themselves to believe anything, no matter how "outsider" they might be to begin with.

Why not, instead of finishing the code, make a video, or at least a nice landing page demonstrating what you intend to build?

Friends are great for high-fives, but useless when it comes to constructive feedback. Your best bet is to attend maker/hacker/startup events and tell people about your project. If they seem interested, go into detail about your plan: why you started it, what problem you're trying to solve, and how you're going to solve it. Be open to new ideas. (Sometimes you discover that your 'goal' isn't really your goal, but a shadow of your 'true' goal.) Adjust your plan accordingly.

I'm only a few years older than you and on a similar path, so you can start with me if you like. (Also: put your contact details in your HN profile so people can reach you!)

Post it to HN, explain you're looking for feedback. Don't be afraid of being told it's shit. For every person who's looking to increase their self esteem by putting you down, there will be one honestly trying to help.

Next... and this is what I've struggled with. I've created a ton of "proof of concepts", that is, things that pretty much work and prove that you CAN do it. Well, the problem is that you feel so awesome and smart from creating those things but that ISN'T the hard part. Actually creating a stable solid product is the hard part, what makes you a good developer. Unfortunately, it's also just a lot less fun.

Here's 2 websites that might be helpful for what your looking for.

http://karmurl.com/ - trade feedback http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-11-25-n66.html -- buy feedback for $7

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