Idea, validation, traction, MVP and scaling

The world we live was built by people with ambition, passion and a strong desire to create a better world by building the things they felt was missing. Henry Ford, Bill Gate, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, just to name a few all share this extraordinary desire. Let’s be clear, we all can’t build cars and neither can we all build computers but we certainly can contribute what we think the world needs, or perhaps build a better solution to an existing product.

When you have an idea and would like to turn it into reality, taking that first step into the unknown can be very scary or perhaps a bit confusing on how to actually start. BTW, I’m a big fan of Just Do It!

Obviously, products are different but here are some of the essential attributes I consider necessary to be able to bring your idea to reality.

Identify a key problem, you should either have this problem or at least you have experienced it before (I think not having any connection with your idea can quickly kill it off). Understand your strength and weaknesses. Basically, this means knowing what you can do and can’t do, that is why most people suggest finding a co-founder. Just do it (Read Find a Way by Diana Nyad).

Real Case Study

Let me share with you my experience, how I discovered a niche and built a product around it called www.yournotify.com.

In Prague, it’s a mess finding accommodation and the process is super painful. Basically, you have to go through ~15 websites daily when you’re looking for an apartment. Just ask any foreigner living in Prague.

After about 3 months, my girlfriend and I found a place —it was the last week, we would have been thrown out of the flat. Couple of weeks later, a friend of mine was struggling to find a place as well, so I was sharing couple of offers I came across. A week later, he got a place from one of the links I shared with him. Seriously, this is not a made story, see some of our reviews on facebook

I hope the reviews didn’t get you distracted, so how did I actually create the product from the link sharing with friends?

I did more validation on the idea!

I had the problem, couple of people had the problem, I needed more validation to ensure the problem exist. I came up with a quick mockup with a landing page and shared it (Reddit, Facebook Groups, Travel Forums). With few people subscribing to the waiting list, the very day I launched, 20 users created their notifications instantly and the user base has continued to grow ever since (Launched in March 2017).

Yournotify.com is currently only open to people in Prague, Brno (in a month) but we are launching in Berlin and London later this year.

The thing about idea is that you just don’t know, it’s more like a bet but with the mindset of appreciating and enjoying the experience. With those 3 attributes I mentioned above, I was able to bring my idea to life and I hope you do the same.

#TheFutureIsBright