Finding the right SAAS product idea is hard. Every market, product, customer and entrepreneur is different. There’s no one-size-fits all blueprint for software entrepreneurship. However, there are common themes you can use to guide your discovery of the right software product idea for you.
TESTS, NOT PRODUCTS
Experiments, not products, should be the relevant unit of analysis. You can run an experiment that fails with zero consequence. Cratering an experiment is better than cratering a product or a startup.
Why should an Adwords campaign and landing page experiment be labelled a product? It’s not a product. It’s an experiment. Experiments commonly fail. They’re almost expected to fail. It’s better to run an experiment with an unknown outcome. That way you aren’t too attached to any single experiment, and you can be agile – releasing an array of experiments and seeing what catches.
NO LIMIT
There’s no limit to the number of experiments you can conduct simultaneously. Of your experiments, 99/100 can fail without any consequence or public humiliation as long as you figure out how to run your experiments on the cheap cheap. Why double down at the beginning on something with zero proven demand? Prove that you can reach and sell into the demand first. Don’t start coding. I repeat, you cannot start by coding your product!
DOUBLE DOWN LATER
Prove the demand as well as marketing and selling feasibility first through experiments. Then double down, roll the dice, build the product, and sell the shit out of it.
This experiment-driven approach will help you invest fewer resources into your product concepts, and by having an array of experiments you’re more likely to find a product idea that’s right for you.
PORTFOLIO
When it comes to product concepts and test marketing experiments, it pays to run a number of experiments. See which idea gets some energy behind it. See which one you like best. See which group of customers or prospects you’re most passionate about serving. Take a portfolio approach, and let the right idea find you.
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Want some feedback on a product concept? Reach out by email right now – dan [at] tinylever [dot] com – I respond to all.
