Have you ever wanted to start a start-up, only to realize that you already run one? Or two?
As part of the Rails Builders group, I aimed to validate a new product idea for Rails shops that already have or want to implement a public API. My first baby step was to reach out to 20 people whom I can learn from about the idea.
But I couldn't. Primarily, I struggled with the topic I would be discussing during my customer conversations. It was challenging to come up with good questions and establish a red line for the upcoming conversation. The product was called unapi.dev, and its subheading contained all the directions it could go:
So, I spent enough time thinking about it to start analyzing the big picture of this whole thing. A reliable product in this space is a serious thing; if shit goes sour, either companies or their customers will lose money. Anything I could build in that space that I can think of would cost an enormous amount of time and energy (and probably money). At the same time, I'm already fortunate to have a full-time contract, where I wear a variety of hats and lead the API team. Together, we accomplish all the tasks outlined in the subheading above and more. Basically, like a start-up. Not to speak of the start-up that is my ever-growing family.
To make UnAPI work, I think I would need to drop everything and reduce the time I spend on my other start-ups, which I decided against.
This means I decided to invest more into the things I currently enjoy doing and growing: the Funnels on Rails developer marketing tutorial and the Rails Builders community.
I'm happily conducting the Mom Test for these products with fellow developers, indie hackers, and founders. Though I don't think I need the ~50 conversations in that short amount of time, I previously thought I needed for UnAPI. I've already learned a great deal about my people in the last few months, recruiting folks for the Rails Builders groups and hustling through those weekly sessions with the guys. Still, I will continue to invest in it slowly but surely. I'm fairly certain that continuing to engage with developers and industry experts (marketing professionals?) is crucial to making the Funnels on Rails tutorial an exceptional one, and the Rails Builders groups a platform where people challenge themselves to achieve better results.
My most recent outreach was a flop. I sent an email broadcast with what I thought was a cool, to-the-point message to 20 of the original Funnels on Rails opt-ins, offering an informal chat about their project. No responses so far:
The Rise and Fall of a Customer Conversation Invitation Email.
It's a tiny sample size, and I guess I expected everyone will jump on that "offer" because they already signed up for a developer-focused marketing tutorial thing. But it rarely comes as you expect in marketing.
Still, I continue to have conversations with developer folks who may be interested in getting their product into the world organically, and I appreciate how I'm applying a few of the things I've learned during our ongoing asynchronous book club, where I'm re-reading The Mom Test with others. Let me share three of them with you.
First, the level of zoom in your customer conversation is important. Understanding that will spare you and your talking partner energy and time. You will have different levels of knowledge about your dialog partner. For example, I recently caught up with a buddy of mine who could potentially be interested in the Rails Builders accountability group or the Funnels on Rails tutorial. During our conversation, I learned that he is happy with his current professional endeavors and has no time for side projects due to family commitments. As the author of The Mom Test says, "Not a customer - move on" (very loosely cited). However, it was still fun to have that conversation. There was no reason to dig deeper into my buddy's problems that Funnels on Rails and Rails Builders solve, because there was no problem to solve right now. Each conversation has a decision tree, and some conversations are totally fine to end at one of the nodes early.
The second thing I had fun "seeing" after reading The Mom Test is how I'm big on avoiding important and risky questions. However, to see that, you first need like 3 of them for the different conversation partners. Here's a set of questions that I feel good enough about that I think need answering during any of the convos:
- Why are you doing your side project? (How serious do they need to have this shipped? What is their main driver?)
- Do you need to hack with a community of fellow Builders? (Not all builders are ready to commit to building with other builders.)
- Do you want to learn more about marketing right now? (Or do they just want to have it built first?)
- Do they have a budget for any of the above?
Third, and no less important, moving to the next step. The conversation should conclude with a clear yes or no from your conversation partner. You need to ask for something of value, such as time, money, or reputation. An example would be asking to pay for a Rails Builders group membership, which I successfully did in the past. However, if my offer was rejected, I've never considered doing a "downsell", such as offering a free live tour through the Funnels on Rails tutorial or checking if they know someone else who could benefit from the paid group format right now (based on their reputation).
I hope some of it will help you shape your own questions and conversations with leads and customers to make your product great.
Next week is the last chance to secure an open spot in Rails Builders 1 (free), which runs until the end of August. After that, we'll finalize the groups in the existing formations. If you know me, just hit reply. If we haven't spoken yet, press the button. 👇