Posted many times. In case you haven't seen it, The Mom Test is great. And the audiobook is good too.
I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
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Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
#22I think the takeaway from the blog post is wrong and comments focusing on building a faster MVP miss the point.
Not everything is a startup. This is a research project - and should be approached that way. There should be donors, a foundation, free access to all participants, reputation-building by writing (& publishing in reputable journals / conferences) studies about its efficacy, a board of doctors actually reviewing & cross-checking recommendations, a doctor-to-doctor helpline, etc.
As the author found out - it's not something people want to buy, but the public. So I think if you approach it from that direction - it might just work.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
#23Out of curiosity - the author never mentioned the most "successful" drug for depression the same way the mentioned naproxen.
Did anyone catch what the name of the drug for depression treatment was?
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
#24I've also spent a lot of time on a side project (gravametrics.com). I never spent $40k on it but I've instead done everything myself and it appears to be a non-starter. I think you need something with a very concise value prop I'm working on that for my next thing right now. Something simple. FYI don't use AWS for these sorts of projects use something cheaper.
Re: "use something cheaper."
For cost-effective startup/small scale infra, I love this method:
- get a dedicated or colocated server (can be cheaper than you think... e.g. mini PC colo with endoffice, joe's datacenter, etc.) - install microk8s on ubuntu LTS - write yaml files and deploy to microk8s
The main benefit of this is that infrastructure is very cost effective for early stage projects. Once the project needs something bigger, all of the infra is encoded in the k8s yaml files and can be deployed to a "real" k8s cluster.
Of course, the yaml needs to be carefully written and made as portable as possible so that it can be deployed to other clusters in the future.
Backup of state can be as simple as using HostPath volumes for state, and running syncthing as a deployment.
Run syncthing on other hosts (e.g. your home machine/laptop, some other cloud node, etc.) and state will be synced in realtime. Syncthing has options for keeping older versions of files/directories, so it's reasonably protected in the case the server gets hacked or deleted by accident.
This is not perfect, of course, but it's a very pragmatic and cost-effective approach. I've used/am using it and am very happy with the end result. I use cert manager, let'sencrypt, and wildcard DNS so that I can deploy new apps with their own TLS endpoints just by deploying a bit of yaml.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
#25Add [2020] to the post title
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
#26The main reason this didn't work is that the founder didn't identify a customer willing to spend money . A lot of startups fail because they never identify a customer. Or even a problem. This one failed because before writing a line of code the founder did not take the next step and ensure that the prospective customer was willing to spend money on a solution. This is why so many failing startups try to pivot to two-…
That's right. A lot of founders don't make it to #3 in your list, or they only get the "make something people want" part. It's not enough.
Build something people want and will pay for.
Not just say they want.
Not just say they'll pay for.
Make something that they see and will immediately take out their cash/cc/paypal/venmo and pay for on the spot.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
#27The main reason this didn't work is that the founder didn't identify a customer willing to spend money . A lot of startups fail because they never identify a customer. Or even a problem. This one failed because before writing a line of code the founder did not take the next step and ensure that the prospective customer was willing to spend money on a solution. This is why so many failing startups try to pivot to two-…
Well, successful business means paying customers, that is almost a tautology. You could also say they didnt identify how to make money.
The big question is how do you get people to give you money for your services/product. Classically people answer this with emphasis on the idea.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
#28As developers we often confuse "startup idea" with "solution to a problem". A fantastic startup idea includes a way to monetize the idea. Without a way to monetize the idea, it's a feature.
Sometimes it is simple - make a piece of software so valuable, businesses or consumer are willing to pay money for it. Sometimes you have to be more creative. For example, Brex makes software for managing business credit cards. It's handy, but I'm not sure I would pay for it. But the Brex model takes a cut of credit card processing fees, so they can give their product away for free.
In this case you could target consumers and give it away for free, then when someone wants a prescription for a medicine they found on your site, you can "recommend" local doctors. Doctors will pay a lot for the patient leads.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
#29This is why PM 101 is should this problem be solved and why.
This could be avoided by pretending the solution exists and asking people how they feel about paying for it.
That said this can be a great not for profit idea.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
#30We worked at a startup that leveraged autonomous blockchains to transfer money from naïve investors to slightly less naïve twenty-somethings. There are worse gigs.
This reads like a parody to me. This whole thing is real, though, right?