Let's say I have an idea to build a startup. How do I go about getting customer feedback before starting the development. I would also like to get people to tell what they would like to see in the software.
What are the flatforms or website or techniques that you will recommend?
This is a very legitimate question. When we start to build a product or even a significant new feature, our major concern is whether people even need it? Normally we try to get feedback from colleagues, friends, anyone we know who would be able to comment. But, what I have realized from past is that there are not many people who can review it for you because of time constraints etc. Such kind of market research is easier said than done.
These are the platforms I have tried for MVP or ideas in the past. See if it helps you: betalist.com - List of beta products.
getreview.co - Community of other entrepreneurs like you
One should definitely try to post it here in order to get structured feedbacks. I would recommend you to be a sport and take all the feedback in a good spirit.
First you should make prototype of your Idea. Show this prototype at least 10 people. And try to grab feedback. And find a co-founder. Who really want to become entrepreneur. Startup's Idea only 10% of your success. Finial execution is base of you Idea. Lots of people spend huge time and money but don't reach the customer or clients. Enter in market with core functionality. And then try to generate little revenue. After that update your product parallel. and apply for seed funding. This is my person experiences. I had started laundry business as well as lots of bugs in my application but its generate revenue and we are continue update of our application as well as service of our business. Good luck for your fantastic startup journey.
There is no websites to judge your product . I listed my opinions are
We did a presentation (powerpoint) for a potential client telling him what our software does (even though there was no software) We told him he could beta test it for us in two months time ... then we actually had to build it in two months time.
On Wednesday the beta testing phase starts and based on the feedback we'll improve the software until it's a viable commercial product.
Short answer:
You can't.
Long answer:
Well there are plenty of websites like http://www.ideacheck.io/ or ideawatch and so so many other. However they all have a common problem: They don't have people of your focus group.
This sites mostly get visited by entrepreneurs, developers and people who want to start a business. But not you customers. You should and have to decide by your own if your idea is good and what problems it should solve.
A big mistake people are making is trusting on other people opinions. If you do so, your app / product will grow into a huge mutated tentacle monster. Because everyone has a different opinion and everyone wants only features, that solves their paticular problem.
You have to analyze your market. What are the competitors. Are there any? How big is the market? Is it worth it? How big is the demand for your solution / product.
And then you have to identify the key features / problem solvers of you product. Keep it simple but good. Later you can always implement more features. Maybe talk with some people directly that are potential customers and ask them, what there needs are and think about how this needs would fit in your product.
Lean start:
A lean start is a common thing to do. If you don't want to go all-in. Make some concepts of your product, think about your USP and make a damn good landingpage. Sell the feature and your USP to the people. Newsletter signup for beta access or notifications if it starts.
You can gather a lot of data from a simple landingpage. First you get a feeling about how many people would be interested. Second you have a user base, if you start a beta. Which you should do! In the beta you can gather real feedback, from real users.
You can also figure out pricing this way. Even if you're product is not launched, you can make a pricing page, with different tiers. And track the clicks on the pricing models.
Sureley you should then build a modal or notificaton with: "Hey sorry, our product isn't launched yet, but you can sign up for beta".
This way, you get some feedback how many people would go the free tier, how many would go a paid tier.
Last, but not least
Just launch! Not matter what. People will always bitch about your idea. And no landing page can proof them wrong. Only the final great product.
I remember the start of dropbox. They posted a thread on HR and pitched their idea. Guess how many people were bitching about, that this is completly useless and why not use rsync?! etc.
Check this site : http://www.ideaswatch.com/
you will post an idea there and see how many watches (likes) it will get
This can give you a feedback on how good/bad is your idea
Also, away from the internet, you have to talk to someone of your potential customers, see what are the problems he usually faces, what is he currently doing to solve those problems.
And good luck, it is nice question btw, I am waiting for other answers..
Ankit Singhaniya
Full Stack Developer
Bradie
Founder
You can use Feedback Swap which is a community where users match with their target audience to get and give unbiased feedback. All you have to do is specify your target and start swapping.