Morning everyone!
So, I’ve been working on an app idea for a number of years now and it’s literally sitting in presentation mode on my Mac.
Myself, I earn good money. But having a family, so the balance of disposable income to invest in making the idea an MVP is minimal and I don’t have the tech capability to build an MVP app.
The app itself is around education for later education. Which would save the consumer and also the government millions if not billions.
My question is, with no capital but with an idea…. How do I move this forward to gain investment?
Thanks
Made me suddenly remember an article few days ago. https://www.cuppa.so/post/turning-your-big-idea-into-a-reality
Build It And They Will Come was never MVP. Launch first, ask questions later is How to crash Your Startup.
Most frequent question asked being where to find the complete strangers you want to become customers but haven’t even clue enough to figure out where they are.
I totally agree with this one. Some actionable steps you can do for little to no cost:
- Prototype the leanest version of your app on figma. The smallest version that offers value, leave the extra features for later because every feature incurs substantial build cost. Figma takes a day to learn
- Put up a website that sells the app. Add screens, pricing, about us page etc. you can do this with WordPress, wix, squarespace. WordPress is cheapest but hardest to learn. If you make good money, squarespace will probably look the cleanest in the shortest amount of time
- Test your audience. Add an email sign up to your website (MailChimp is free) where a link to the app store would usually be. A contact page as well. Then put the link and a pitch in places where your target customer will see it.
Free options: LinkedIn, Facebook groups, reddit, Instagram comments, discord groups, stackoverflow, social media, texts to friends
Paid options: social ads, influencers, podcast sponsors
- Use the traction to mitigate your risk. If you have 1000 signups, assume 3% will pay for the service and either invest accordingly or use the traction to pitch investors
hey, if you’re looking for investment without capital, consider pitching your idea to angel investors or seeking out startup incubators for support. networking and building a strong business plan can also help attract potential investors. good luck!
No angel investor would touch anything this raw and underdeveloped. Everyone has “ideas”. Way too many opportunities out there with fully realized products and a sizeable customer base. Get it to this point and then you can start looking for VCs.
Sometimes you’re inner self doesn’t motivate you to act because it doesn’t feel this is the right path; and these instincts are usually right - the first thing you need to do is to validate the idea to yourself; would anyone buy or use this app?
In the education sector there are some easy ways to establish if organisations that largely depend on public funds would be willing to purchase and use your app - simply check on public procurement portals and look for tender opportunities and award notices to see if establishments are, or have in the past, sought after new technologies similar to you idea; if they have before, they certainly will again.
Once you have validated it to your inner voice; you can use the same argument to validate it to an angel investor. If the answer comes up negative; take all the best elements of your idea and combine it with another sector, or another need and do the same again. This way the worst case scenario is that you develop a habit of coming up with useful ideas that make your life and others easier.
slowly buy steadily
If you need an app prototype within ~24 hours, I know a team that will do it for a very low price. Not cause they’re bad or anything — they just started a new design agency and need to build out a nice portfolio quickly.
Also experienced with digital education platforms, have designed several MVPs in this space.
I’m new to this sub so I won’t drop the link, DM me if you’re interested.
There is no shortage of software developers. So, technical viability is not the issue.
If investor, I would ask first why you have stood in the way of progress.
After all, “….if not billions….” has been sitting on the shelf for several years.
Is this market really viable?
How is this app going to generate millions or billions in several years?
Years… In that time, you could’ve learned 2 programming languages and built an MVP. You should’ve launched years ago. Your idea will stay an idea forever if you don’t launch fast and fail fast.