You shouldn't ask your mom about the viability of an idea because she will be biased towards thinking good things about you (and your ideas). Similarly (sort of...), Hacker News will be biased towards wanting your product and not say anything bad about it.
Have you read The Mom Test? https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/... Also, Rob Fitzpatrick did a youtube series focused on remote interviewing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcWqxq2fJgY&t=1s
I've spent a ton of time as a developer trying to make money from various side projects and businesses. So most of my top "wish I'd discovered this earlier" list revolves around tech+business stuff:
* Strategy #1: Charge more. patio11 has been shouting this from the rooftops for years, but it didn't sink in until after I started Indie Hackers[0]. If you charge something like $300/customer instead of $5/customer, you can get to profitability with something like 50 phone calls rather than years of slogging. It's still hard, but it's way faster.
* Strategy #2: Brian Balfour's four fits model[1]. It's not enough to think about the product. You also need to think about the market, distribution channels, and pricing, and how each of these four things fit together. I imagine them as four wheels on a car. It's better to have 4 mediocre wheels than 3 great ones and a flat.
* Book: The Mom Test.[2] Amazing book about how to talk to customers to research your ideas without being misled, which is a step I've stumbled on before.
* Tool: Notion. I just discovered it recently. I use it for all my docs and planning.
https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/...
You shouldn't ask your mom about the viability of an idea because she will be biased towards thinking good things about you (and your ideas). Similarly (sort of...), Hacker News will be biased towards wanting your product and not say anything bad about it.
https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/...
https://www.amazon.com/Predictable-Prospecting-Radically-Inc...
https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/...
https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Successful-Strate...
* Strategy #1: Charge more. patio11 has been shouting this from the rooftops for years, but it didn't sink in until after I started Indie Hackers[0]. If you charge something like $300/customer instead of $5/customer, you can get to profitability with something like 50 phone calls rather than years of slogging. It's still hard, but it's way faster.
* Strategy #2: Brian Balfour's four fits model[1]. It's not enough to think about the product. You also need to think about the market, distribution channels, and pricing, and how each of these four things fit together. I imagine them as four wheels on a car. It's better to have 4 mediocre wheels than 3 great ones and a flat.
* Book: The Mom Test.[2] Amazing book about how to talk to customers to research your ideas without being misled, which is a step I've stumbled on before.
* Tool: Notion. I just discovered it recently. I use it for all my docs and planning.
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/...
https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-Step/dp/09...
and/or
https://www.amazon.com/Business-Model-Generation-Visionaries...
and/or
https://www.amazon.com/You-Build-Will-They-Come/dp/047056363...
and this:
https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/...
https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/...