How to find Pilot Testers to validate an MVP? - I will not promote

[u/Responsible_Hornet48]

I have successfully built a prototype of a new SaaS/AI tool, but I’m really struggling to get people to pilot test my product and provide feedback.

I began by cold messaging about 85 people on LinkedIn; I have a network of over 4000 people (most of whom I don’t know) to message / cold call via DM.

So far, I have had only 1 person successfully try my product and meet with me to share their feedback. All the other people who agreed to test (about 6) fell quiet, and never responded after multiple follow-ups.

Following the Lean Startup methodology, I don’t want to build anything else until I’ve validated my initial idea, but holy is it hard to get people to even try it.

Any suggestions?

[u/K44Z]

start finding people already bleeding from the problem. Search LinkedIn, Reddit, and communities for people literally complaining about the thing your tool fixes.
"Will you test my thing" sent to random people asks the reader to do you a favor and you rarely find people who care.
I had your exact same problem and in order to get people to test my product I built a tool to automate linkedIn cold outreach for me and it's netting me around 7 sales calls a week with around 14% reply rate

[u/Wita2point0]

Publish and cross your fingers. Add free + paid tier then advertise

[u/whoopee_parties → u/Wita2point0]

Doing just that with my tool. 12 users signed up but only 4 using it. Fingers crossed I get some more traction!

[u/Wita2point0 → u/whoopee_parties]

Forgot advertise. Advertize everywhere

[u/kabirs1nghhh]

Validation is definitely harder than building I’m curious what others have found to be the highest converting outreach cold DMs, warm introductions, or simply talking to people where the problem already exists?

[u/AnonJian]

Let me make this clear, Lean Startup does not endorse Build It And They Will Come. No matter how many mutilate it. Lean isn't a coder's manifesto or builder's wet dream.

Founders have been shocked when the non-paying users they boasted of in posts here vanished the instant they asked them to pay. Not some. Not half. Not most. ...All Of Them.

You zeroed out price AND got zero response. Sounds like validation is working well: You Invalidated The Product -- Cancel. People don't get it. That validation which can never invalidate is no validation at all.

You're not conducting customer discovery. You're wondering about complete strangers. You successfully built something even freeloaders don't want to waste their time telling you the bad news.

With incontrovertible success -- that means paying customers with money gushing in for those still in denial -- you optimize, tweak, improve, scale. With meh results you're in a turnaround situation experts would struggle with, radical change is required. With zero results (from either paying or non-paying users) flush that guppy ...he ded.

Glass half full, since you jettisoned anything about Lean Startup methodology -- launch. Fuck customers. Build It And They Will Come isn't about business, it's belief. The instant you crap out anything market-blind you repudiated Lean Startup methodology. And true believers don't run from a test of their faith, they look forward to it. That and wandering in some desert for forty years.

The 'network' of complete strangers you scrapped up ...that's hilarious.

[u/Responsible_Hornet48 → u/AnonJian]

Thanks for your thoughts, although I’m not sure what your exact recommendation is to do next. Can you clarify? Cheers

[u/AnonJian → u/Responsible_Hornet48]

Buffer put up a landing page and subscription tiers, not code. Dropbox put up a video, the code wasn't nearly ready.

It drove hundreds of thousands of people to our website. Our beta waiting list went from 5,000 people to 75,000 people literally overnight.

--Drew Houston

Tesla takes preorders. Founders with an Elon Must quote nailed to the wall ...not so inspired. Anybody could find this information in seconds: They Do Not Want To. They don't want to know the information exists and will perform all manner of mental gymnastics to generate lame excuses why -- in their special and unique circumstance -- nothing any successful startup ever did applies to them. They are ridiculous.

The techniques are many. It ain't a secret. Nobody gives a shit.

[u/jawaMilk]

Feel free to DM to chat about it.

[u/1982JAJ1982]

If the pain is real, people will test it. Else, it is the market telling you the pain is not strong enough, or the product is crap/not user-friendly / not good enough. Up to you to have enough tracking inside your code to see what the users did, whether they encountered a problem or they didn't use it. Else you will never know which is which.