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True story: how a founder validated his idea

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Summary

This article tells the story of Slava, a founder of Camlann Games and his use of Discord to validate his startup idea. Slava used the platform to engage with potential customers and learn about their pain points. He discovered two big problems: unfair revenue split between publishers and developers and outdated marketing techniques used by publishers. He then used this knowledge to approach potential customers in a conversational and direct way, which resulted in his first sale. The article also provides advice on how to use any community to validate an idea and emphasizes the importance of being a genuine member of the community first.

Q&As

What is Discord and how did the founder use it to validate his startup idea?
Discord is like the intersection of Slack and Reddit. You can search for the servers (communities) that interest you and instantly join the conversation. The founder used it to get to know the members, and even the admins, by being part of the community and having casual conversations with potential customers.

What were the two big pain points that the majority of developers had in common?
The two big pain points that the majority of developers had in common were that the revenue share with developers was unfair and that publishers don't understand marketing in 2023.

How did the founder use Discord to have 100+ conversations with potential users?
The founder used Discord to message somebody from the community and have 100+ conversations with potential users.

What was the message that the founder sent to land his first customers?
The message that the founder sent to land his first customers was: "Hi there. Was glad to have discovered Age of Space. I was incredibly impressed with the Homeworld-esque gameplay but with obviously some unique 4x, grand strategy elements. Very cool. Full transparency, I do represent a publisher. Who is the best person on your team to speak with regarding business matters?"

What is Slava's recommendation for using a community to validate an idea?
Slava's recommendation for using a community to validate an idea is to be a genuine member of the community. Take time to genuinely get to know the community and make friends first before exploring ideas.

AI Comments

👍 This is a great article that provides a detailed look into how a founder validated his idea. It provides a unique perspective on how to use technology like Discord to network with potential customers and create valuable relationships.

👎 This article could have been more thorough and provided more detail on the specifics of how to use Discord to validate a startup idea. It also could have included more information on how to use other platforms to network with potential customers.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about how a founder used Discord as a tool to validate his startup idea. He used it to talk to potential customers and learn about their problems. He was able to identify two main pain points that a lot of developers have in common.

Friend: Wow, that's really interesting. It's amazing how he was able to use Discord to find potential customers and get feedback.

Me: Yeah, it's a great example of how to use social media and online communities to get insights and build relationships with customers. It also shows the importance of networking and making genuine connections. It's not just about sales but building relationships and trust. That's how you get people to open up and share their experiences and ideas.

Action items

Research and join a community related to your startup idea.
Engage with the community and build relationships with potential customers.
Reach out to potential customers with a direct, complimentary message to explore the possibility of a sale.

Technical terms

Founder: A founder is an individual who starts a business or organization.
NFT: Non-fungible token (NFT) is a type of cryptographic token which represents something unique; non-fungible tokens are thus not mutually interchangeable.
Discord: Discord is a proprietary freeware VoIP application and digital distribution platform designed for creating communities ranging from gamers to education and businesses.
Slack: Slack is a cloud-based set of team collaboration tools and services, founded by Stewart Butterfield.
Reddit: Reddit is an American social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website.
Zoom: Zoom is a video conferencing and online meeting platform.
Camlann Games: Camlann Games is a video game discovery platform & operating system for game studios.
YouTubers: YouTubers are people who create and upload videos to the video-sharing platform YouTube.
Twitch streamers: Twitch streamers are people who stream live video game play on the streaming platform Twitch.
4x: 4x is a genre of strategy-based video and board games in which players control an empire and "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate".