A Good Idea
It’s amazing how much you can learn in one 2 hour meeting with a genius. I highly recommend talking to people smarter than you, or at least more experienced. It still blows me away the value I get out of a meeting with someone of this caliber. Seek these people out and meet with as many as you can.
Sometimes you’re left with a ton of ideas. Some are likely good, some maybe great, but there’s likely a bad one or two in there as well. You must get good at knowing the difference between a good idea and a bad one. Even a good idea might be bad for you at the time.
So many times after a meeting, I’ll leave with a few feature ideas. This may throw you off your game plan and you should think it through before building. Stick to your MVP plans, but make sure your MVP can be built fast. How many of you have done the day in the life of your customer exercise?
I’ve seen this concept around and High Score House recently shared theirs. This is a very powerful exercise and I think everyone should do it. This exercise can tell you a lot. It can help you realize what must be built and what you can hold off on. Customer interviews are great, but we can still start building a bigger product than we may actually need.
Focus on the bare minimum features that close the loop. What does your product need to make your customers happy and want to use your service? Stay focussed on that. Don’t lose site of that goal. If you think you’re falling off track, get back on it. Go back to the day in the life of. If it doesn’t fit in that day, ditch it or save it for later.
I close with this. Be open to ideas, write them down, explore them. More importantly really think them through. One small feature idea can waste days or weeks of time and throw you of course. Stick to your guns. Never stop talking to people and listening, but don’t waste your time on something that isn’t crucial to your bread and butter.
