First thing I might comment on here is are you absolutely certain this is a new product? From what you describe its a new angle on an old idea. With that more in mind if you think people are unaware of your view point then education based marketing seem the most relevant starting point. You see...
Either find a partner with money to help you out or use services like Kickstarter.com If it was me, I would first learn everything I need to know about launching a transactional website (if you are able to sell your product online and ship it ). Websites like Shopify.com make it possible for a...
Hi there! 1-. Keep on asking for feedback for your product and adjust it 100% to what your first users want 2-. Go for the wow factor. Make their product amazing (think about an iphone design) and last 3-. Make sure these early adopters use your product everyday (or as many times per week as...
Mitigate risk. You're asking a store manager to dedicate space that costs money (and must generate revenue) to an experimental (unproven) product. I've seen some cottage industry food sellers here in Detroit work out deals to set up and sell their products at local stores. They get a day or two...
That depends on how differentiated you are from existing products and if having your product next to a dozen competitors on a shelf will help sell it. Do customers need to touch it to see why it's different/better? If not, brick-and-mortar might not be necessary, at least initially. Warby Parke...
The answer depends primarily on two factors: 1) Do you have outside investors? 2) Do you have and/or could you obtain a legal release from the co-founder, and after this release, would the co-founder have less than 5% of the company? If you have outside investors in the existing corp and you wi...
Ask the team. What do they think is a good use of their time? No one likes to sit idle. If they were on a heavy schedule to meet the product launch, some downtime is useful to regenerate creativity, energy and focus. Have they documented all the processes used? Have you conducted a post-project r...
I'd avoid the cold email. The best way to get inside big companies like distributors is to "social engineer" a connection to someone there. Find a 2nd or 3rd degree connection on LinkedIn. Hang out at a restaurant near their HQ and look for people with the right badge on. Ask your potential a...
I have been in a similar situation with a client recently: a startup with a compelling software solution that needs a large partner to develop and bring it the market. We have done a partner selection together where we looked at strategy, value proposition for all parties (what is the win/win/wi...
Getting customer to prepay is difficult if a) you don't give them a reason, b) you ask the wrong type of customer. ** Assuming you're doing this for customer development, not just to build revenues *** Giving them a reason: I usually say "we have an early adopter program, and we're only signing...