Yesterday I virtually attended the Startup Lessons Learned Conference held in San Francisco via the simulcast at bootuplabs in Vancouver. Priceless, the information, experiences and advice shared by the successful entrepeneur presenters. Alternating between a topical presentation and case study format, more than one presenter expressed regret that a similar event did not exist prior to starting their own ventures. 

The message which has resonated with me the most the conflicts with my "build". I am an engineer, I like to build stuff, and I like to build it well. Having a concept which has survived my own "laugh" test so far, I have an overwhelming urge to shutter the windows, bolt the doors and code until I have created something tangible to show the world. One of the many messages today is that this would be a big mistake and possibly a colossal waste of time, energy and money. 

You see I haven't any clue whether the idea has validity, whether there is a real problem to solve. I think it is/there is, I have bounced the idea around with people who are in my perceived target market. But does this count as validity? I don't think so, in fact now I see it now as an extension of the laugh test. I'm not rolling around on the floor laughing at my own idea, neither is any body else... yet. This is not validation.

The presentation by Manuel Rosso, Food on the Table was most pretty interesting. Here is a concept that was validated, trialed and launched without a single line of code being written. Learning what the problem is, validating and testing solutions and only then introducing automation with code. It is a counter intuitive approach to somebody like me. Yet it makes far more sense than to spend months designing, writing and fine tuning something that nobody will ever use.
 
Today I killed the IDE, shutdown the dev server, and have begun the search for 25 individuals who are not close friends/family, are decision makers, and would be real users of my "solution". I need to engage with them and determine;