Ask HN: Partially validated idea which I cannot build. Should I give up?
4 comments
If you’re building something that people need and you’re solving a problem then I would say don’t give up.
Things always seem impossible at the start.
When Kevin & Mike built Instagram they started with a motto of keeping things simple.
Connect with developers on Twitter many of them are building in public and are happy to help or point you in the right direction.
Also, start researching angels and VCs in your space. See who also invested in your competitors.
Hope this helps:)
Link to Docsend: https://docsend.com/view/ewkqzza7izzsycf2
Atm validation data of my customer facing Docsend pitch (https://docsend.com/view/ewkqzza7izzsycf2) is as follows: 61 unique views on roughly 100 e-mails with 3 lifetime deals sold (not my mom and dad!). 77% avg viewed with several "would try it" or "would need to see more" feedbacks as well.
I am now stuck. There is interest in an extremely tough B2C market for a more tailored approach, which I cannot build myself; no-code will never ever work, people also quickly get bored by fake numbers in click-dummies. In order to make it work I would need a great product designer and an engineer (or two), probably in a funded co-founder mode.
Currently I am thinking I have these options: 1) park the idea for some time and wait for a better time, 2) kill it, 3) try to find investors (pre-seed, angel?), 4) send it to Copilot / Monarch and tell them to build it.
What would you do? Does it even make sense to try with an investor pitch deck? Apply for YC? What am I missing? More validation? If so, how? It feels like a mission impossible.
My validation signals are clearly skewed (I personally know all 3 customers, and majority of the unique views) and I am also aware that personal finance is extremely personal and behaviour driven topic (not to even mention cultural differences between continents).
Thanks a lot for your thoughts!
Background: Previously posted search for a co-founder on HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25809962), worked on my idea for 4 months, read 70 papers on personal finance, did the whole Mom Test, Norman, Cagan, Thiel package, found a co-founder, made a landing page, collected roughly 100 emails, stopped working with co-founder and finally ended on docsend. I also wrote about this journey on my substack https://eightyfour.substack.com