3.4 Testing Your Idea
Before writing code or building prototypes, test your idea informally to see if people care. There are several simple techniques:
Elevator Pitch (30 seconds): Draft a concise pitch that explains your idea quickly and clearly. You should be able to describe who has a problem, what your solution is, and why it matters, all in about 30 seconds. Practice this pitch on friends or mentors and see if it makes sense. A good pitch sharpens your thinking and quickly reveals if you have a clear value proposition.
Customer Interviews: Talk to potential customers face-to-face or on the phone. Ask open questions about their needs and listen more than you talk. Try to uncover if the problem you want to solve is their actual problem, and if they have existing solutions. These conversations are experiments in disguise: they test whether customers are looking for what you plan to offer. Lean Startup practitioners stress getting “outside the building” to interview customers early. Strategyzer notes that in the “measure” step of the build-measure-learn cycle, you might literally have conversations to gather feedback.
Surveys: For quantitative data, use online surveys or quick polls. Craft short questionnaires for your target audience to rate how much they care about your problem or feature. Surveys can reach a larger sample and give you percentages to gauge interest. While still based on self-reporting (and thus imperfect), survey results help decide if it’s worth pursuing further tests or development.
Early Validation Tests: Run small experiments that mirror real use. For instance, create a simple landing page that describes your product and has a “Sign Up” or “Pre-Order” button. Run a small ad campaign or email blast to drive traffic to it. If people click through or leave their email, it’s evidence of interest. In Lean terms, you’re testing the “value hypothesis” by seeing if customers take the desired action. Failory’s validation framework suggests even setting a “pre-selling goal”: define how many signups or dummy purchases would prove demand, then see if you reach it. For example, Dropbox’s founder posted a demo video and grew their waiting list from 5,000 to 75,000 users overnight, while Buffer started with a two-page website to test if anyone would sign.