Ideas Archives - LunarLincoln

Oct

Sunk Cost Fallacy: Don’t do it.

So what happened?!? What did you do with all the research? Did you make the feature list?

We did take a few more steps post-market research.

First, with all of the info we now had from talking with ACTUAL USERS, we redefined our audience size and attributes in our TAM. And discovered that even though we were now focusing on two audiences (meetup organizers and conference organizers) we needed to further segment them into novice organizers and smaller conferences – which made our target audience much smaller.

Second, I listed out all the features needed to make the platform appealing to each audience. Then I took away anything that might not be quintessentially necessary. This list was still really long.

Let’s look at those two numbers:

Tiny audience
Giant feature list

Wait a minute…those should be flipped for a successful business, right?

This is the part of the process where you start making mental excuses even though your gut and rational brain are pointing elsewhere.

“I mean…it could work….we already put in a lot of time…people said they liked it…we can just charge less till we get more users…maybe we don’t need to target both audiences…man, we have this cool name already…everyone is going to ask what happened after our meetings…let’s just build it and see.”

And off you go to the wonderful graveyard of failed startups, because you couldn’t bear to kill you idea-baby during the research and validation stage.

It’s okay to admit that some ideas aren’t the right fit. It’s totally okay, even if you’ve put a lot of time into it.

Sunk cost fallacy is real y’all. Don’t be a part of it.

So off we go back to the drawing board, looking for a concept where the numbers make more sense and the build-out to MVP isn’t months long.

Aug

Testing the Waters – A New Product Idea

So you know how we were trying to “magic” an amazing idea last month? We made lists. We read books. We drew on the white board a lot. We looked at everything from Product Hunt, Beta List, and YCombinator. I even scrolled way back in the @BoredElonMusk Twitter handle (There are some great product ideas in there…that we’re not interested in building).

Well after weeks of being super negative about everything and thinking that we were never going to find anything good, we went on vacation to NYC. Then I went on a walk to lunch – gotta get my Turnip Truck Hot Bar fix – and I had an idea….

We host Nashville Cocoaheads. They have their meetings at our office. Sometimes we buy pizza or beer for them. One of their challenges has been finding sponsors. Mostly because they’re busy with their day jobs, not to mention sourcing the actual speaker part of the events. And this isn’t the only group. We’ve also had emails from friends who needed money for chairs for their usergroup. Like, a lot of chairs. Their event is super successful, hundreds of attendees successful, but we still ended up sitting on the floor one time. (We did give money for chairs the time we were asked and now they have amazing venue sponsors who have their own chairs).

This sucks.

My friends are trying to create wonderful things for their peers and shouldn’t be worrying about these small things. We’re sitting on the floor. Or drinking water instead of beer. Or rushing from the meetup to dinner because the organizer only bought 2 pizzas instead of 6 because they were paying for it out of pocket and now it’s 8pm and I’m super hongry.

Now I know the point of usergroups is not pizza…or chairs. But these things help. You’re tired at the end of the day, and you’re taking that little bit of energy left to go to a thing and learn something new. It would be nice if there was sustenance there, or even better…free tickets to a conference or a free pass to a new software tool. Congratulations on doing something extra – here’s another piece of help.

So, I got to thinking…wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a tool to help my friends find sponsors for their usergroups quickly and easily? They wouldn’t have to cold email. They wouldn’t have to figure out how to make a pdf with their sponsorship packages when what they care about most is being a really good software developer. They wouldn’t have to buy the pizza themselves or email their friends for help (even though we like to help).

But wait….

is this a real problem? Or are my friends just bad at organizing meetups?

So I sent quick emails to friends who are organizers along the lines of “What do you think about a sponsorship tool for usergroups…” I got responses back that were practically epistolary novels about how YES. YES WE WANT THIS. OH GOD. YES. and then 1,000 ideas of what it could look like.

Well then….let’s proceed.

So I wrote some more emails… a ton of emails actually. And I had coffee, and beers, and Slack convos. And… it seems like a problem a lot of organizers have. Maybe not always on the same dire level but it’s still a task no one likes but everyone needs.

Sidebar: I LOVE OUR LOCAL TECH SCENE and how amazingly patient and helpful all of the Nashville organizers and sponsors are. You guys make me want to build this thing immediately, if only to give back to those who have already given Nashville so much.

Currently, I’m still in the process of having meetings with the Sponsor side of the equation but I’m looking forward to it.

I think we might have found a winner you guys. We’re passionate about our local tech community (and other ones like it), this is something within our grasp to build (sorry, massive email sentiment analysis idea), and maybe just maybe it can be profitable (sponsorship help for podcasts, for school clubs, for little league teams, for any grassroots organizer of anything).

Next up. More meetings. Competitive Research. TAM and monetization. What does this idea look like in feature form? We’ll keep you posted.

Jan

Is Your App Idea Special?

Let’s be honest – app ideas are hard. The world is big and fast-moving and what’s hip today might flop tomorrow. Having what feels like a good app idea is only the first small step in building a successful product.

The Process

So, imagine you’ve dreamt up a great new app idea, what should you do? The very first thing any entrepreneur should do is check if their idea already exists, but not for the reasons you might think.

You’re not looking to see whether the door is shut in your face, you’re looking to see if the idea has potential in the market. Most app ideas are not purely original. Tons of people are having the same great idea each and every day. But that’s okay! Other people with similar ideas prove that it is a good one! Seeing competitors shows that there is a need and it is feasible concept.

Realistically, you ARE going to find a few apps that do some similar behavior to what you’re imagining. Whether those apps are wildly successful or quietly unnoticed, you’ll have to innovate and find ways to improve upon these existing products. Think about features that are missing, designs that can be improved, and new ways to monetize. Do you think this market has room for another app? How can you attract the most attention?

What if you go app hunting and can’t find anything even close to your app idea? In this scenario, your app idea typically falls into one of three cases:

Your app idea is original and nobody else has thought of it
Your app idea has been discovered to be too costly to develop
Your app idea isn’t appealing to enough users

Naturally, you want to be in the first category, but what if you’re not? This is hard, and you’ll likely need to reach out to potential users and gauge their interest. Continuing down this path is certainly risky but can still be very successful.

The Bottom Line

The harsh reality is that most app ideas are uphill climbs. You’ll work, you’ll iterate, you’ll advertise, and sometimes you’ll fail. Failure is a tough pill to swallow, but it’s a fantastic learning opportunity. Did you make a mistake when assessing the viability of your idea? Did market conditions change? Or did someone else beat you to the market while you were developing? No matter the outcome, use this experience to craft your next great app idea.

Jul

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Ninety percent of LunarLincoln’s app ideas come while walking to get coffee. These idea’s usually come about like this: “I was so annoyed today when” and then usually end with “wouldn’t it be great if…” Working through problems. Making life easier. Or maybe not easier, but better, happier, certainly more convenient through apps is something we want to do, and CAN do here at LunarLincoln.

The list of app ideas is long, the market is fast, and let’s be real, some ideas are better, much better, than others. Luckily we have the tools, brains, and skills to make some of these into a reality. Our first foray into the world under our own banner is a little app called LunchTimer.

The app’s clothes are done, the guts are being built, and even now, I find myself wishing that it was done, merely to help my own scatter-brained self along. How, you ask?

I find myself running errands, lots of errands during lunch. Or grabbing food with friends, or sitting in interminably long business lunches, and in each of these situations, I don’t have the time, or forget, or it’s rude to continually check my phone to see if it’s time to head back to the office. Is lunchtime over yet?

Is it now?

Now?

How about now?

After looking at my phone 15 times in the last 20 minutes of lunch, only to see the time inching by and then later whizzing, LunchTimer was created.

The short and sweet: LunchTimer automatically knows when you leave work (with low-enegy gps tracking), and then begins the clock for the length of your lunchhour. It notifies you at a preset time (5 minutes/10 minutes) when its almost time to head back.

Voilà. No more being late getting back, no more sitting your phone on the table rudely, no more constant wrist checking. I hope you guys think this is a good of an idea as I do, and if not. Well, I’m still going to use the shit out of this app.