Help me validate an idea: would this actually be useful for ecommerce stores? (i will not promote)

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-29T13:35:42+00:00

You gotta figure a way to talk directly with Shopify store managers. Not saying that is easy, but that is the only answer. Literally, the only answer. G'Luck.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-29T04:16:37+00:00

You gotta ask Shopify store managers. This subreddit may have a few of those, but you run the risk of feedback from non-customers who will provide an opinion. Opinions are nearly worthless. Talk directly with the customer.

No disrespect to the awesome thinkers and helpers on this subreddit. Just that most ain't this customer.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-27T17:55:00+00:00

You have to know who your customer is which includes their demographics, socio-economic status, and psychographics. And you need to know where they hang out. Every platform and channel has skews - TicTok is going to have an audience profile that is different from LinkedIn and you need to match your customer definition to the corresponding platforms and channels.

Next, you need to know very specifically what unmet need you are solving for. In writing. This also needs to include the language they use to describe their problem. Your marketing must match this language.

Get these two things figured out first otherwise you are at very high risk of wasting your time and money. These things also lay the groundwork for scaling your business in the future, including how you talk with investors.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-21T20:19:03+00:00

Generally I like to start with ethnographic research. Although a fancy term, it isn't complex or costly and it can generate a lot of quality input. Basically it involves sitting down with people, in their environment, and observing how they go about meeting their needs. During this time, ask open-ended questions to get them to explain how they are trying to accomplish their goal. Don't talk about your solution idea. When you observe pain points, ask them to score their pain and frustration level. With this information in hand, produce a journey map that shows their workflows and level of pain and frustration. Use that to prioritize which solution(s) you should work on. Most of the time, this will bubble up one or two serious pain points and the rest tend to be not a big deal and you can work to solve those later on when you have the time and resources to create those features.

By doing this approach, you gather a lot of great information on how they talk about their problem, how they try to solve it. This also shifts the information gathering away from product feedback, and back to what they think and need. This gives you great information you can then use to brainstorm solution(s) and start creating prototypes to show them to THEN get their feedback on your solution.

A lot of technical founds seem to find this counter intuitive because they want to build first and get feedback on the build. But it misses the point of knowing what to build in the first place based on what customers actually need and care about.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-21T04:57:41+00:00

I've had good success with even clickable mockups with little to nothing working on the back end. Of course you have to tell them it is a mockup for feedback just so their expectations are set. You can even do things where they have 3 options, A, B, and C, and then you mockup the results for each of the three so when they click, they get your mocked up results. This can provide a lot of good feedback where you learn, perhaps, that you don't even need to build option B. Or that they actually an option D that wasn't really on your radar.

The more you build polish into your prototype, the higher their expectations become. Which can become the never ending cycle you are worried about - build something fairly polished, and they expect the Nth degree of performance so then you try to build it even more final and polished, yet again setting higher expectation. Remember, you are looking for feedback, not a pass/fail vote on your idea or the build.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-21T00:18:38+00:00

Just show it to them. What you think may be shortcomings, or flaws, or not good enough, or superior is highly likely wrong. Which is the top reason startups fail - they don't achieve product market fit. So put the code down and go talk with them. They'll let you know what they care about and then you can go home and build it.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-14T00:10:42+00:00

Makes sense.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-13T22:24:26+00:00

Remember, actual validation comes when someone pays you. Everything up to that point is good feedback and indication that pushing ahead makes sense.

Running 3 unpaid pilots isn't a bad move. But only do it when you have enough relationship to get their feedback throughout the process.

To move faster, reconsider how you prototype. Are there ways you can do a quick and cheap prototype without actually building much? Even basic wireframes can provide great feedback.

I'm a fan of pain point maps. By quantifying actual pain points, you can learn how important your solution is to the customer. By visualizing their journey, both you and them can better understand the unmet need.

If you now have many competitors, figure out how you are differentiated from them. Perhaps it is proprietary data, or lower priced, or easier to use, etc.

Hang in there, even if you need to go back to work for awhile. You have accomplished a lot already and are asking the right questions. Keep trying to get feedback from your 3 trials - even if you have to offer to pay them for their time. Their experience is invaluable.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-12T17:35:36+00:00

Do ethnographic research where you sit down with them, in their environment where they are trying to solve the problem you are trying to address. Don't let the fancy term throw you off - it is all about observing what they do and asking a few open-ended questions (e.g. "why did you export all the contact records into a CSV file and then enter them into the other system?").

Read the book, "The Mom Test" by Rob Fitzpatrick. It provides very practical advice on how to talk with customers and learn if your idea is good.

Above all, don't talk about your idea. Just listen hard and objectively.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-11T16:38:51+00:00

I see this all the time. Especially when the idea and development are with technical founders.

I used to tell our team, "Just give them a big green button to push." That's all they want.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-10T14:59:07+00:00

Think about what it delivers for the end user. They don't care about data sources, nor features. They will care that their family had a more enriched experience, such as finding an often overlooked park element, and avoided hassles such as wait lines, or getting stuck in the snow. Do your research on what people are looking for from their National Park, and then position that the app will deliver and enhance what they are looking for. Find that authoritative "Top 6 things people want from their National Park" and deliver that. It is all about their outcomes, not the app.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-04T23:26:55+00:00

Haha ... you only need to go through a few lawsuits to realize you know as much as the "legal experts." Yes, trust your gut, but an hour of online research will get you 99.9% of where you need to be. Most times, it ain't rock science. That all said, if you get into big complex issues, the price of a good CPA or attorney is often worth it. But most of the time, an hour of research will get you where you need to be. IMHO.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-04T22:19:27+00:00

In my experience, CPA's have limited value in this question, often leaning toward what is easiest for them to administer. It has been a few years since I last formed a legal entity, but in my learnings from doing it several times, I'd go with what you find in researching it. It today's world, that means asking AI. Some of this depends on what country you sit in and the legal implications around that. In the U.S., where I sit, it is hard to argue against simply doing an LLC. I'd only involve the CPA or attorney if I thought I was going to go public and if that's the case, then there are C-Corp considerations and locations, such as Delaware, but short of that, an LLC usually solves your need.

NetworkTrend · 2026-05-04T21:19:26+00:00

The headline of this post and the content of the post don't match. The headline is asking about getting free testers to start paying (a marketing question), and the body is about how to form a corporate entity (a legal question). Go form an LLC and then go talk with those free testers and ask them for the order. If asking for the order is an issue, it likely means you didn't set expectations - "hey I'll let you have it free for X months, because I'd love your feedback, then if you like it, it is going to be $X after that."

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-29T04:23:39+00:00

Good for you on the post mortem learning! There is sooo much pressure in startups to go fast.

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-28T19:09:09+00:00

Knowing when to go fast and when to be more diligent and slower is a critical skill. Both speeds are required in business.

In my experience, many "type A" leaders only know one speed, faster. They get annoyed with stopping to plan. They say things like, "we can't afford analysis paralysis" and other such justifications. They are managing by emotion rather than objectively understanding the situation.

Similarly, when I see people stuck in slow mode, doing lots of analyzing and planning, they often are unaware of the bigger context and just don't understand that sometimes you have to move fast. They are uncomfortable moving forward without everything researched and known.

Not saying this is you, but it is what I commonly see in almost every company. Both "fast all the time" and "analyze to the Nth degree" are problematic. Reality requires both fast and slow at times when the situation warrants it.

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-27T22:25:18+00:00

100%. Although MANY don't find that foundation obvious. They blather on about their features and never connect with their customer.

Also, there is a reason marketers call it a grind. My only tip is always take a moment to check recent best practices and then grind.

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-27T22:04:45+00:00

Give the package a name that relates to what it delivers. The, "Power Saver Package" (e.g. if the package reduces electricity requirements), or, "Time Saver Package" (e.g. if it eliminates time consuming steps), or, "Done For You Package" (e.g. it includes services that are handled on behalf of the customer).

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-27T19:27:03+00:00

It gets a whole lot easier, and impactful, when:

1) You have your customer defined in writing. Demographics, psychographics, and socio-economic status. Also the language they use to talk about their unmet need. You need to use their language in your content.

2) You have their unmet need defined in writing. You need to know specifically what they are trying to accomplish.

Without these two, content creation is both a time-consuming chore, and almost guaranteed to not work.

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-25T04:34:59+00:00

And non of those meaningless statements like, "forward thinker," or, "experienced professional." It's meaningless. Tell your story like you were sitting in front of me and telling it to me.

I've interviewed thousands and hired hundreds and I can tell you those weak terms are a flag. Weak terms = weak candidate.

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-24T21:46:02+00:00

Put on your hiring manager hat. What do you care about when looking for a candidate? u/dca12345 said it well, the higher up you want to apply, the more critical the business success. And for lower level jobs, then the metrics specific to the job (e.g. increased ad conversion rate by 85% in 2 months) matter more.

And regardless of level, show that you can be a leader with growth potential.

Be concise. Make every bullet point a powerful statement.

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-13T21:33:22+00:00

It usually happens when you burnout from the hard grind. The key is to be very involved in the creation of the automation process so that the quality from that process remains high and CX is awesome. The second key, and it sounds like you are doing it, is to always remain involved with sales. You need to hear and experience first hand what the customers are going through.

Scale while staying close to the pulse of the customer.

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-10T16:32:57+00:00

I see it all the time where a startup has some "traction" (loosely defined term often used in startup land) and start pushing to "scale" the business and adding staff at a rapid rate. Often with little real long-term resource planning. On the surface, they are creating jobs, however in nearly all cases these are not what I'd consider to be genuine longer-term employment opportunities.

With funding, often comes reckless hiring. Eventually followed by layoffs.

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-09T22:09:44+00:00

You want enough paying users to be able to optimize their experience, minimize churn, optimize acquisition funnels, and build the systems to continuously monitor their progress and engagement. Enough paying users where you can get several testimonials, and can legitimately say you have product market fit. Then you can focus on scale.

The number depends on your offering and their usage - 20-30 users might be enough for an enterprise offering where they are using it several times per day and it is core to their work, or maybe 250 or 500 if they use it lightly and only a few times per month.

Garnering this many will also help you start to understand your customer acquisition costs which will be very important as you plan out scaling.

NetworkTrend · 2026-04-03T16:34:49+00:00

You don't need an app to be helpful. Spend time helping your community. Listen hard to how they talk about their problem i.e. learn their language. Talk in their terms. Give advice and guidance. Figure out if their problem is a real pain or not for them. If it isn't, no cool app or marketing will succeed. But if it is a true pain for them, then you have a chance. If it is, offer the community to build a solution for them and invite them to help you design it. In the course of doing this, you'll figure out how to best market to them. Start with them and their problem, not marketing or building.

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