Okay, I just got investment from the largest and most reputable VC in my country.
As part of the deal, I will have access to around 1000 large companies. Basically VC can just call these companies and have them try/buy my product. So this really is a golden ticket. The VC money I am getting is also a pretty size-able amount.
This is a pre-seed round, my product is still at ideation phase. What I am looking to develop is basically airtable.com competitor, but much easier to use, more geared toward small/medium enterprises and will have more country specific integrations. Basically I have unlimited access to distribution and sales should come easy, given the respect VC has in my country.
Given that I will have immediate access to about 1000 large b2b customers, is airtable like competitor the best course of action? Or is there a better idea I can develop into an MVP? My main goal is to develop the MVP and get to profitability as fast as possible.
Do these VC funded companies you have acces to, have a need for this product?
If they do l, I would see if I can get avcess to info. You have te relationship, you have the idea. So sit down with decision makers(so you figure out pricing, pain points for marketing and inportant objectives) and the people that will be using an app like this.
It will give you an incredible amount of info that you can utilise to build an MVP like you are describing or even when well tailored to your market. This is the biggest leg up you have.
If you VC funded conpanies would buy it because of access, thats great. If rhey but it bevause it works, that’s the best and will automatically gain you sales and marketing outside this group.
That’s where I would start
I am not sure yet. I already have some customer interviews set up with steakholders of those VC funded companies tomorrow. What I will be doing is just showing airtable itself and asking them if they would use a localized and easier to use version of this in their business. Just a note, there’s no airtable in my country, they don’t even support the language. And the reason I picked airtable competitor is because it already has a proven business model in the US. So I am really trying to minimize risks here
I’d rate thats a great start. Get as much info you can.
I am excited by this because of your nationality. Not sure what it is, but I am also based outside US/UK and EU markets. Some of these products work great in their markets but are glitchy af in ours and don’t take into account the context of culture.
I think this is a great idea. Ask stakeholders in your interviews if they are using Airtable. And then ask why or why not.
This should reveal plenty of painpoints and non negotiables.