How did you test your audience's need for your platforms solution?
Jasper Ruijs
3 replies
Here is one example:
The founder of Producthunt took two years to build up an audience.
First, he made a successful blog, which he converted into an email list that supplied his subscribers with the latest SAAS services on the market.
Through an open dialogue with his email list subscribers, Ryan Hoover made Producthunt.
To this day, they constantly maintain a close relationship with their users. You could argue the complete opposite of what Apple does.
Replies
![Ana Bibikova](https://ph-avatars.imgix.net/2916113/1d4e3a97-67a5-4f84-a3f3-7c7182944997.png?auto=compress&codec=mozjpeg&cs=strip&auto=format&w=36&h=36&fit=crop)
Ana Bibikova@anab
How about old fashioned interview? Just talking to people and asking them about their pain point usually helps. There also surveys, I usually run 3-4 of them against different customer segments to see where my product fits better. I'n not sure we have two years now for customer development. Everything is moving so fast, that by the time you launch there is a big chance someone else already have identified the same need and found a solution. That's why products have to be able evolve pretty fast and founders should learn to pivot if needed
Share
An email list is key. There is something personal when communicating through an email newsletter, and that builds trust. Trust is essential for success. I‘m trying to do something similar before I launch my community-driven app. It takes a hefty amount of time, but I believe it‘s worth it.