How about the $5 DMV test? There's a bunch more people there, and they're all bored stiff!
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The $20 Starbucks Test
11–19 of 19 posts
Re: The $20 Starbucks Test
#12This is what https://www.usertesting.com/ is for.
Re: The $20 Starbucks Test
#13Based on your description, I don't see where the "$20" comes in. Are you buying people coffee for their opinions?
Sorry to be negative, but spending more money on a scientific survey would give you believable data to work with. This sounds like a waste of both time and money.
Re: The $20 Starbucks Test
#14That's a waste of time and $20. You validate your startup idea by trying to sell it and seeing if someone actually sends you money.
Sometimes people will give you positive feedback and blow smoke up your ass saying it's a great idea, but the real test is if you asked them for $XX right now for the thing, would they give you the money?
Re: The $20 Starbucks Test
#15Aaron Patzer used a similar approach for Mint, but asked people what they thought of what eventually became "bank level security" on his website. I think that's a better approach for the random stranger feedback.
If you want to know if there's demand for your startup, you could simply build a website and pitch it to people, however, you won't truly know if there's demand until you build something that provides value and ask people for money. (Just like DoorDash & Flexport did) Even then you'll face distribution problems but that's another story :)
Re: The $20 Starbucks Test
#16I have talked to literally hundreds of people off the street, coffee shops, etc. about my startup ideas. In all honesty, most of them were a waste of time.
Now, I take a different approach. I talk to my friend's friend's friends until I find the right customers to talk to. I contact my friends and ask who they know and then I ask who they know and so on. Its pretty easy once you get going. And a warm intro is an easy way to get the time you need.
Other resources are LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, Quora, etc. Find someone on there that has an interest in the idea you are working on. After you have a short interview ask who they know. Once you get the referrals flowing its very easy to find enough people to talk to.
A great read on this topic is Talking to Humans. A couple of takeaways: 1. Approach talking to others as a way to question your assumptions. 2. Ask for stories. People do a better job telling a specific story about their life, rather than answering hypothetical questions. 3. Look for clues, workarounds, passions, and pains.
- https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Humans-Success-understanding-...
Re: The $20 Starbucks Test
#17[deleted]
Re: The $20 Starbucks Test
#18If you're launching a startup and you can't approach and talk to someone you're going to have a hard time running a business.
This x1000
If you can't talk to people but you want to start a business you've got 3 options;
1. Work with someone with less spaghetti in their pockets 2. Work out a way of removing to spaghetti from your pockets 3. Don't start a business
Re: The $20 Starbucks Test
#19Unless your startup is about coffee i highly doubt it.
Create a landing page and spend the $20 on SEO