The fastest product validation I‘ve ever seen

👋 Hey there,

yesterday I was planning the newest issue of my Newsletter about how to decide between quality, costs, and time. While browsing through Twitter on the side, which I‘m doing way too often,
suddenly this Tweet appeared in my timeline.

Nader Dabit

@dabit3

Startup idea: a social media app where you can only communicate using memes and gifs

01:10 AM - 12 Aug 2020

17 393

At first glance nothing special, Nader posts an idea. That‘s it. Interestingly the summary is only one sentence long and very clear to understand. So clear that I don’t even have to reexplain it to you. He has a pretty decent following and now the dynamics take off.

Follower only answer with Memes

A big portion of answers look like this:

Nader Dabit

@dabit3

@shimst3r

10:59 AM - 12 Aug 2020

0 1

People pick up the idea and start interacting the way Nader proposed. Why? Because they‘re able to post GIFs on Twitter. The platform already has the functionality and users seem to enjoy it. A pretty good sign that it‘ll work on other networks too.

Mentioning Alternatives

A lot of answers are like: Hey that‘s how I‘m using Slack, Reddit, Instagram, etc.

Buhake Sindi

@elitegentleman

@dabit3 Do you mean reddit? 😁

06:39 AM - 12 Aug 2020

0 1

Okay, it‘s probably general knowledge that Memes are part of the internet‘s DNA. But exciting to see how they‘re embedded into the usage of mostly community-based tools. A Memes means communication. It can only meaningful applied where people meet. That‘s a tough requirement. Building communities and communication tools are pretty hard.

Existing Solutions

Building a solution that competes with the big ones like Slack may sound horrifying. The question is whether alternatives exist and the market is big enough that those are sustainable?
It could take up a lot of research and digging. Not in our case:

Jim Liu

@jimcalliu

@dabit3 Do you want to test this?

01:15 AM - 12 Aug 2020

1 5

Here we ago. At least two alternatives are posted. A pretty good start to get an overall impression of the market.

Conclusion

To sum it up. What was Nader able to learn with just a couple of words in the beginning:

• People instantly pick up the idea and use existing features to show how much they enjoy to interact with Memes
• Memes are heavily used in every major community. So he probably has to build one himself.
• Smaller solutions already exist which can be a good indicator that a bigger market exists.

Overall it‘s been enough information to decide if it‘s worth it to dig a bit deeper or leave the idea on the table.

Want to make this experiment on your own? What you need is to have enough exposure that people are likely to react to. Don‘t bother when you only have a small number of followers like me. There are a lot of helpful communities. I personally enjoy the valuable exchange here or over at Indie Hackers. Maybe the number of answers is smaller but the quality will be at least the same. Try it yourself!

Thank you for your attention.
– Dennis

PS: When you liked this little piece of content. I really would appreciate it if you want to share it or take a look at Inside Digital Products a tiny newsletter where I post stories like these.