Ask HN: MVP - How to handle the emotional roller-coaster ride?

2 points by stripe 12 years ago | 4 comments

Hi HN, A few months ago I asked around 2,000 potential customers (B2C) if they would pay for this one product. Turned out that they hated the product in every way possible. I was really having problems with how harsh people declined. Now fast forward to today. I have offered a new product to five potential customers (B2B) and even without me talking about money they offered to pay right away. Those five have been the first five I ever talked to about this product. Now I am being realisitc, the market for my product isn't large. At the same time I am so excited that this thing will turn into a product with paying customers! Right now I can't eat, sleep or do anything that is not related to the product. How do you handle such situations? Does it get less emotional after a few rides?

dennybritz 12 years ago |

Set up a landing page and way to preorder your product. You could also use something like https://gumroad.com/

Then, go back to the people you talked to and ask them to preorder. "Yes I would probably pay" doesn't count. Make them pay. If they pay, great, talk to a few more people and repeat the process. Maybe aim for about 10 people or so?

If they don't prepay... start listening closely. You should get some good feedback on the idea.

thenomad 12 years ago |

It's a cliche, but I find a quote from William Wallace really helps in this sort of situation. (I work in filmmaking and internet marketing, two industries with fairly significant peaks and troughs.)

The quote in question: "This too shall pass.". Equally useful in good or bad situations.

apierre 12 years ago |

Don't you want to tell us about your product?

stripe 12 years ago | |

Does it matter? With the first product users could win money, travels, cosmetics and other prizes for solving knowledge based puzzles. The B2B product saves time by automating specific QA work flows when testing mobile apps/ xbox/playstation/wii games.