I'm told better to build something at least a few people love, rather than something many people simply like, as it's easier to scale a loved product to the masses than it is to get even a few people to adopt one that they merely like. My concern regarding this approach is that I worry my product may not have even the potential to become mainstream (i.e. ability grow out of it's user base of early adopters to the early majority). What are some good ways to gauge whether a product that's loved (albeit by few) has the potential to grow outside of it's initial (somewhat niche) market?
The easiest answer to this is something a mentor told me a few years ago when I was working on a niche app....she said "do you honestly feel like you could be passionate about this for the next 10 years"? That may not sound like it's relevant but it is...honestly that's the only thing that matters when starting a compay (besides the obvious of is this valuable)...That's the first thing to figure out. Then when I answered and said maybe, she said "do you think that this is the biggest thing you could be doing with your time? Why stop at helping a few thousand people, why not pour 10 years of your life into something that can help millions".....so reframe your question, is my product only helping a few people? Is there something else I could be doing that will help more people? If the answers are obvious then you know what you need to do...back to the drawing board.
Answered 7 years ago
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