How to tell if your business Idea is any good?

Don't ask what people think about the Idea. Do this instead .....

Last weekend, I had the exhilarating opportunity to stand before a group of sixty entrepreneurs, each brimming with ideas and ambition, ready to shake off the chains of procrastination. These incredible individuals decided that the time for dreaming was over – it was time to turn those dreams into reality. With the support of Phase One Ventures, they tried to launch in a single weekend.

Shout out to the crazy ones :-).

They were all struggling with one main thing, which was the only workshop of the weekend: How could they be sure if the idea was any good? They had heard I screwed up doing a hundred interviews validating my startup Idea and getting sixty yes's only to find out that... they all lied to me.

I made this mistake ten years ago, thinking my business Idea was good because everyone said yes to my questions. I learnt how easy it can be to screw up customer conversations when we start with questions like ….What do you think of the idea? Would you buy it? These questions render the whole process useless because nearly everyone will lie to you. 

"Gerald, it's brilliant. Call me when it's ready.." BS! None of them bought it. The idea was terrible.

So, how can you tell if your Idea is good or not?  

Essentially, instead of talking about your idea, ask about their lives. When they say your idea is great, ignore the compliment and ask them for a commitment. A commitment is can be some more of their time, their money (eg. pre-order), or for them to put their reputation on the line by connecting you to someone else to talk to.

I read many books trying to grow my startup, but The Mom Test is the go-to book when you are at the start and trying to figure out if the Idea is good.

Gvdp