Hi everyone,<p>I've been developing a small web app as a personal project and I got a fully functional prototype.<p>It got potential, and I've been thinking about releasing a fully polished version as a proper service. That would involve getting a decent hosting plan, run testing, implement a subscription model to monetize the project.<p>My dilemma is: should I instead lightheartedly deploy this first version to gather interest and receive feedback, and then progress to a more adult version of it and redirect users?<p>People who have shipped several web apps and potentially met modest usage in a few of them, what's your opinion?
You don't need to launch this to get feedback. I would cold email five people who you think will find it useful.<p>Ask them if they have this problem you're trying to solve. Ask if they currently use something to solve that problem. Ask them for their feedback and if they'd be willing to pay for this service.<p>You can find emails pretty easily by using any of the following tools: saleshacker, voilanorbert, toofr, curtact, or <a href="http://emailhunter.co" rel="nofollow">http://emailhunter.co</a><p>If you can't get people in your target market with this painpoint to answer your email, you will have a hard time finding your first customers.
This is an excellent read by Justin Mares (co-author of the excellent Traction book).<p>tldr;<p>Find out if people actually want your product before you build it.<p>`80/20 Validation: The Cheap and Fast Way to Prove a Business
How to easily test a business idea in 2 weeks with less than $100`<p><a href="https://sumome.com/stories/80-20-business-idea-validation" rel="nofollow">https://sumome.com/stories/80-20-business-idea-validation</a>
The best book on this subject is Lean Startup. Build, test, iterate. Put something out there, gather feedback and adjust.<p>Also consider the "show HN" to get feedback from the hacker news community.