š Iām , a product builder in tech. Iāve built & launched multiple products & apps using the method: , , , , , +more Zoe Chew rapid MVP sneaker app personal FAQ meal kit app virtual event app SaaS tracker online food delivery In this post, we will dive into: How to quickly (cheaply) test your startup ideas š Why you CANāT validate an idea š± How to set up a prototype šāāļø Different ways to prototype š Create mechanisms that can get paying customers š° Metrics to measure idea validation ā° No-code tools to build a prototype š§° Test Your StartupĀ Ideas Starting something new is always risky and uncertain. You donāt want to spend thousands of dollars or months of coding only to find out your startup idea doesnāt work. So you want to quickly (and cheaply): test the concept create a prototype validate the demand get feedback collect evidence that your idea has potential (or kill the idea if it doesnāt) all before investing resources to build the in-depth features and solutions TBH: you CANāT validate anĀ idea There are many misconceptions when it comes to āvalidationā. Jason Fried, CEO at Basecamp explained why you validate an idea : canāt in this video You canāt validate an idea, the idea doesnāt exist. You have to . You have to make the thing. build the thing The you if itās any good or not. Until you do that, you have NO IDEA. āmarketā will tell You canāt validate anything about your ideaā¦ by asking people The only way to know if youāre on the right track is to . build the thing, put it out there and see what happens How to build a prototype? āBuild the thing, put it out there, and see what happens.āāāāJasonĀ Fried You need to have āsomethingā to show. And it doesnāt have to be a fully functional or feature-rich app. This is why we call it a prototype. It is designed to test, collect feedback, measure, learn and iterate. In other words, itās designed to find of whether your ideas are worth pursuing. EVIDENCE The best evidence is: Did people for it? Second best evidence: Did people it? (if payment is not an ideal measure for validation, e.g. if youāre testing social media app ideas). PAY USE There are to prototype your ideas. Today, I will break down these options based on: multiple ways types of prototype how to set up the experiment how to deliver the value to users metrics to measure no-code tools to build the prototype suitability of prototype (1) Concierge Service Also known as concierge MVP. You manually help your users accomplish their goals by "imitating" the user interactions as if they are being done on the software, online platform, or automation. Prototype Today, Airbnb is a full-fledged platform with in-depth functionalities. But they didnāt start from there. was started as a concierge service. The founders rented out 3 of their air mattresses to offer accommodation alternatives in San Francisco for an upcoming design conference. Airbnb The setup The team made a simple site to announce the offer. But the site didnāt have any filtering, booking, and customer payment features at the beginning. Deliver value toĀ users If people were interested in the mattresses-as-service, they could contact the founders and proceed with the payment face-to-face. Validation Two men and one woman showed up, paid $80 each for the air mattress. The team validated that people are willing to pay for alternatives to hotels (strangersā homes). Suitable for Concierge service can be used for testing marketplaces idea where the interaction between the supply-side and demand-side users can be fulfilled through manual delivery of the service without any automation. Other startup idea examples that can utilize concierge service prototype: online grocery delivery, freelancer matchmaking, online booking platform. No-code tools for concierge prototype: or to create the website and value proposition 1. Umso Carrd or for online scheduling or connecting with the users for further communication 2. Calendly SimplyBook (2) OnlineĀ form You can start validating with pre-orders for your physical (or even digital products) without creating an eCommerce website by using an online form. Prototype Imagine youāre testing an online store that sells beauty products. Problem: Itās hard to find natural handmade beauty products and health-conscious consumers are looking for chemical-free alternatives. Solution: Online shop that curates natural handmade body scrub, moisturizer, soap, lip balm, lotion. Example of natural beauty products retailerāāāBalmonds.co.uk: The setup Create an online form to showcase your product concept and a list of product catalogs, item names, images, descriptions, and prices for potential customers to pre-order. Limit choices at the beginning and focus on unique offerings. Deliver value toĀ users Integrate the online form with payment tools to allow customers to pre-order the products. You also want to include customer details such as their name, email, phone, shipping addresses, etc. Validation Number of traffic, conversion rate %, and pre-order revenue $. Itās possible that you donāt need to stock the inventory upfrontāāāuntil you have validated with paying customers then you can fulfill their orders afterward. If you found out thereās no demand for the product idea, you can always refund the pre-orders to your customers. All without heavy investment in building an eCommerce store to test your concept. Suitable for An online form can also be used for testing other startup ideas, for example: for a niche marketāāāyou can create a form that integrates with online payment to test how many people are paying to attend a Zoom fitness class. A paid online fitness class āācreate an online form to test if people would be interested to list their jobs by asking companies to submit their vacancies. If you have an audience (a large amount of website traffic or email list), test if they will pay X amount per month to list their job posting. A paid job board No-code tools for online form prototype: to create interactive online forms with built-in templates such as . Other online form tools: Google Form, Airtable Form, JotForm. 1. Typeform this one for online orders : If youāre using Typeform, you can integrate with Stripe for customer payment within the online form. 2. Stripe (3) Productization Productization is when you package your freelance services into a marketable offer where clients can pay upfront fees (one-time or recurring) to get their digital report, strategy plan, or maintenance services delivered. Using the same approach, you can turn your app idea into a ādone-for-youā service that imitates the workflow, functionalities, and characteristics of the actual app. Productize service example: AudienceOps Prototype Imagine youāre testing a SaaS app idea that ranks the most trending blog posts and auto-generates a list of top-ranking SEO keywords that are associated with these top blog posts to optimize content marketing strategy. The setup Come out with a landing page that contains the offer: Iāll help you curate the most trending blog posts in your industry, analyze 50 top-ranking SEO keywords and 20 SEO-optimized blog post titles you can use to rank your next content piece on Google. Get your content strategy report for only $39. We will deliver within 24 hours. Deliver value toĀ users If potential clients are interested, they can pre-order the digital report in PDF format. Validation Landing page conversion rates %, number of paying customers who order the digital report. Take one step further by understanding your customers: how useful are the details in the digital reports, what can be improved, etc. Once you have collected these data points, you will have a better sense of direction on how to approach this idea and iterate the prototype further. Suitable for Testing SaaS app idea, database products such as platforms that generate data insights, trends, etc. No-code tools for productization: a suite of PDF tools: edit, annotate, convert, create, and secure. 1. Wondershare PDFelement [1] Find me on Personal Site / Twitter / LinkedIn š„ Also published on Substack . This article is part of my toolkit newsletters āļø where I share resources about building things. Join meĀ :) Also published here .
