How do you know if your idea is good?

Ken ‏ @kenthecoder I have a few startup ideas but afraid they will fail and would have lost money and time. How do you validate your ideas?

Also, another tweeter asked a similar question: Jamie Gunn ‏ @gunnjamie How much market validation do you get before you start to build your online products?

ANSWER

There’s only one way to validate an idea. And only one.

Build it. Listen to the initial feedback. Rebuild it. Repeat a few more times. Then see if people are using your product.

If they are, then it means your idea is helping people and is good. If they aren’t, then give up and start with a new idea.

By the way, you used the phrase “market validation”.

I don’t like that phrase. What does the word “market” mean. What does “validation” mean. I get it. I know what they mean in the dictionary and in business school. But we’re in the real world.

If you help people, you will make money.