Hey, Clément here! This is a free edition of my newsletter. If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you missed:
Subscribe to get access to every post.
One of the most exciting things to do is starting a new project. You have this idea or saw this problem you wanted to solve for some time now, but you have no clue where to start. I won’t speak about business plans, revenue forecast or any spreadsheet work. Read on.
Marketing before code
First, I must say there are very few occasions when you need lines of code to sell or validate your ideas. At the earliest stages of any new project, it's good to get a sense if other people care about the things you care. Please don't run a 360° market study or get to Powerpoints design, just make sure if your idea excites other people than your mum or best friend.
That's why I always start with marketing before getting my hands on building something.
Find your idea
A great way to find a market is to look at your own problem, and user profile. What's specific about you? What's harder to do or achieve because you are X? Because you know this audience very well, it'll make things easier for you at start.
Another way to find a market is to look at the free products, paid with privacy. A fast growing number of people are sick of those models and eager to pay. And support you making the web an healthier place. Take this opportunity, like many other founders did successfully (e-mails, web analytics, website builders, content, etc.).
Leak your opinions out
How to explain your idea to wider audiences now? To validate your guts you’ll need to confront it to the world. What it is, why it exists, why it matters. Don't knock the crowd out with technical specs or marketing jargon — make it clear and relatable.
We as humans understand things by comparing them to others, and we're stocked by conflict. To explain what you're going to do, dare taking stands against market leaders. Tell what you believe in, how it is different, and why we should care about it.
For example when I started Bootstrapping Marketing, I knew there were thousands of newsletters about Marketing, gathering millions of readers. So I decided to promote a “bootstrapped” angle instead — how to get more people in front of your project without spending big money, run ads, take sales calls or play hacks. Less than a month later, over 400 people were hitting my website every single day.
Leaking your opinions out is the easiest way to get your next followers, visitors, users, and customers – the ones who already believe in the same you do. They’re the foundation of what you’re building and will help you get the good word out.
Don’t play Monopoly
Everyone's pumped by your project but someone told you the competition is too fierce and it'll be impossible to scale to billions. Should you be afraid? Hell not. Marketing is not a board game. Taking a tiny 0.01% niche of a market worth 10's of millions of dollars still makes it a million-dollar gig. Unlike Monopoly, not only the biggest wins here.
Plus, it's easier to start as small and narrow as possible. For example, build for all the vegan restaurants based in France before eventually growing to other type of cuisines and countries. Focus the one thing that matters the most (and supports your marketing narrative) to the smallest possible niche. You’ll have enough time to expand after.
It’s hard to go without passion
But don't fall into the business appeal trap. Yes, some niches may seem juicy — but what if they’re boring? When you choose to commit on a new project, think twice. Does it excite you? Are you sure it’ll keep you enthusiastic enough for the longer haul? Fun sweats, and it'll be so much harder for you to get people excited if you are not.
Don't get me wrong, you don't have to be passionate about CRM to launch in the space. Figure out the little extra touch that will make it fun for you. Figure out the little touch that will make you pumped each and every day. What drives you? Are you a staunch advocate for open-source projects? Then you may consider building an open-source CRM.
The ProductHunt bet
Launching is a tricky part. Because you've been working hard for weeks or months, you've likely blurred the line between yourself and your project, and you hope so hard the launch will skyrocket. But there are thousands projects going live every day — so you'll need a lot of luck to get a tiny bit of attention. And it won't happen if you haven't built enthusiasm before hitting "publish".
An "easy" playbook to toss a new project is ProductHunt. Sorry to say, but you shouldn't think it will change the face of your launch. Yes, it can work out pretty well. Yes, it can be a nice early boost. But getting traction on ProductHunt requires people to follow you, momentum, timing, and a piece of good fortune. What will happen if your wildcard doesn't work out?
Launching on ProductHunt takes a lot of time, which you don't have in the early days. A lot of the users are curious tech enthusiasts, not buyers. There's maybe something better to do instead.
Now I'm curious, do you mind sharing your own story in the comments – from the initial idea to how you launched? I'd love to know more about how you tackled that.
Hey Clement,
Thanks for this clear content! Validating your idea from day one instead of dive into the product & coding is way much better strategy. No doubt becaused I faced it several times. What will build the product is actually the demands, comments, experiences that you gather from various people. A person who is reading this, open a new tab and finish your shitty landing page that some buttons doesnt even works, you now ready to go!
Hey Clement!
Thanks again for your writing! It clearly makes me think a lot. As a slightly technical founder, I am lost when I don't have a backlog of ready to code user stories. Kidding. Not that much. It is just that my ideas run dry when I try to be more creative on the “talk to user” part. Well, reading you help with this.
Pushing the boundaries of audio messages seems natural for me. I find it much more powerful and efficient to message with my voice... Hell you motivated me to write a manifesto for vero.fm!
Keep up with the writing! I need you!