In my previous blog post I mentioned some of the key mistakes with regards to validating product ideas. Turns out I was about to make some more. This one is more of a early optimism mistake. Meaning I made some assumptions about the process of validating a product idea from my limited knowledge on how to interview/talk to people regarding your idea.
Running before walking
I was trying to cram too many things into a single meeting. Validate the idea and understand the process around it. This was my mistake completely, I read what I thought was just enough to get started and just went with it. Making some of these mistakes showed me some gaps in my understanding of the process of talking to people about your idea (Rule #1 is you never talk about the idea 🤓, at least early on).
I'll still continue to read just enough to get me going (as I've done just now 😅), this helps me get out of my head and making some of those early mistakes which teach me more than any amount reading.
Flaw in the process
In short I was doing too much. My first goal should be simple, validate the idea and that's it. This does not need to be a structured interview, it's more like a chat. Where you never even mention the idea.
You ask questions like, "Hey I was wondering, you must have to deal with X a lot, in your line of work. How do you manage it?". A simple question like this is enough to understand if it's even a problem for the person you are talking to. Based on their answer you can ask a couple of follow up questions it should only take about 5 minutes.
The idea is never mentioned.
Learning how much I don't know
Don't be surprised if you see another post, about more mistakes that I've made. Just an hour ago, when I realized my mistake, it took me a minute to come up with a simple question to help validate the idea. All this time I was preparing questions that were not intended for this stage of the process.
My goal is to demystify building products that solve a real pain point. I'm really new to this process but I'm noticing that it's also making me a better software engineer by learning how to ask better questions. The questions are really simple, but it's more about building the habit to ask these simple questions before committing.
It's a good reminder to not take myself too seriously.
Till next time.