Post by Tristan Kromer

"Would you pay for this?" is not a test. It's a conversation. One of the first ideas I tested in my very first tech startup in Silicon Valley was an automated NDAs between two parties. (I legit thought this was a good idea.) First, I put out a survey. Over 66% of people said they'd pay $20 for it. And yes, I checked the Margin of Error. Then, the actual choice. I ran a Fake Door test and about 200 people reached the point of purchase. Exactly zero clicked the button to buy. Not a low conversion rate. ZERO. Here's the part that still makes me laugh to this day. On that page there was a small, hard-to-see bypass button. It led to a page where I asked people to send me $50 via PayPal in exchange for nothing at all. No product. No promise. Three of those 200 people sent me $50 each. So more people paid me real money for nothing than paid for the thing two-thirds of them said they wanted. Stated intent isn't weak evidence. It isn't evidence. If you want to know whether someone will pay, make them pay. A checkout button. A PayPal link. A pre-order. Anything that costs something to say yes. Asking "would you?" is research and generally leads to wishful thinking. Making people open their wallet is the real test. https://lnkd.in/gsUXyHNq