Test Results (2): Strong

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We have a new prototype which sort of works and is totally overhauled from the early December version. I have tried a different approach to testing it this time: showing it to people in person and gauging how excited they are. Sometimes I tried to excite them, and sometimes I pushed hard to obtain critical views.

Results:

1. People are excited
   
2. People understand it
   
3. Some people really dig the Secret Weapon Under Development, while others could take it or leave it
   
4. People have had lots of great suggestions, with some strong themes
   

In short, people get it and like it much more than in the last iteration. We have strong indications that Linkspank can be a kick-ass product.

So we are hustling our butts and eager to get a modest demo for the public within a couple weeks or a month.

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Two Brief but Major Updates

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1. Linkspank is coming soon

Prototype development has gotten us excited. A toe will be dipped in the water soon, hopefully with a throw in the pool to follow.

2. Linkspank will enter the New Venture Challenge.

We have a complete and good business plan, but the NVC will be an opportunity to get some smart help from GSB students, and to explore the possibility of being invested.

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Two Hats: Zealotry and Reality

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It's often pointed out that an entrepreneur has to "wear many hats." By this, people mean you have to be capable of a variety of functions, spanning anything from sales, to programming, to recruiting, to legal work.

I sometimes think of the hats not as functions, but as two attitudes or modes: zealotry mode, and reality mode.

"Zealotry mode" is starting from the perspective that your idea is the best thing ever and will be the biggest thing ever. "Reality mode" is starting from the perspective that your idea is suspect and potentially should be scrapped at any second.

• The times for zealotry mode: executing, pitching, recruiting. Developing a prototype before the next iteration of testing.
  
• The times for reality mode: periodic evaluation of how things are going. Testing a prototype before the next iteration of developing.
  

It's hard to do both modes. People like to poop on new venture ideas, which can bias an entrepreneur toward reality mode. But entrepreneurs often have undue self confidence and an instinct to compensate for everyone's negativity, which can bias an entrepreneur toward zealotry mode.

I just switched from reality mode to zealotry mode. I tend to enter reality mode about once a month, lasting for about a week.

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When Concept Testing is Impossible

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Fresh from my own pain....when Concept Testing is Impossible:

1. When the idea is an experience. There are some things that you simply have to try before you know if you'll like them.
   
2. When the idea is new. If the idea is new, customers can't understand it or they can't believe it.
   
3. When you can't reach your customers. You're supposed to be able to reach your target audience - how else will you have a product? But it can be very hard to reach them for testing. But what about customers that reach each other through viral activity? A viral test? Maybe on Opposite Day when everyone forwards the most boring links they have ever seen.
   
4. When it's an idea that is anti-test environment. No one likes surveys, especially marketing surveys. And what if you're a college student? What if you are a person who cannot even be motivated to do homework?
   

Solution: throw the idea out there, and improve it iteratively. With tiny resources at hand, this means starting with a kernel of a product.

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