AI app/platform idea feedback - and next steps

[matewilk]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum and to entrepreneurship. I'm in the process of reading Unscripted and it really motivated me to start developing my own software products.
I'm a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information available so wanted to ask for some feedback and what my next steps should be.

My idea is pretty simple for now, just another AI app, teacher assistant - although I'm to happy change it to anything really - this is just to teach myself marketing and stuff.
The final goal would be to create a platform for people to deploy their own ai powered web pages/apps using my platform, but for now I'm just testing the waters and finding out how the whole process works.

Here are some things I've already build:

Website and mobile apps designs:
- website design - here
- mobile designs - here - you need to use arrows at the bottom of the page to switch through different screen views

I also have the website mockup ready:
- website mockup - here - fully responsive design

And the mobile working prototype:
- mobile prototype - here - both for Android and iPhones (give the a few seconds before it starts animating)


So my understanding is that now I should do my proof (soft) which is challenging to say the least for me.
I've been a software engineer and had never anything to do with marketing/sales/etc. I don't event use twitter/instagram/facebook.

I'll be super glad to hear what you thing about my work so far and would love to hear your feedback.
Also, if you could give me some tips on how can I approach soft proof now, that would be awesome!

I'm also running out of steam working on it without sharing with anyone, so feedback whether good or bad is very much appreciated

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Jobless]

Some meta feedback:

People don't like clicking links. Make it easy for people. Include some images in your post.

 

[TeeJay_]

Who will be doing the coding?

Your marketing will consist in pinpointing one major "pain" that people suffer from. From that pain, you are the solution. You then generate content highlighting this solution in various situations in real life scenarios.

What is the current problem this "teacher assistant" will be able to solve?

Does it save you time? Does it make things easier? Is it faster than the competition? Does it find precise information in an ocean of data? Etc.

 

[FierceRacoon]

Just keep working on it. Say, you spend 50 hours to build something. Then spend another 50 hours trying to find at least one person who'd want to use it. For a software engineer, it is critically important to try to engage with the market and experience first hand, how hard it can be to find users for what seems like an amazing idea.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[matewilk]

Some meta feedback:

People don't like clicking links. Make it easy for people. Include some images in your post.

Noted, thank you.

 

[matewilk]

Who will be doing the coding?

Your marketing will consist in pinpointing one major "pain" that people suffer from. From that pain, you are the solution. You then generate content highlighting this solution in various situations in real life scenarios.

What is the current problem this "teacher assistant" will be able to solve?

Does it save you time? Does it make things easier? Is it faster than the competition? Does it find precise information in an ocean of data? Etc.

I'm coding as well as designing it 100% myself.
Coding is not an issue, I'm totally comfortable with it, designs is something I've done for the first time in my life but I think they look decent for the first attempt.

The marketing / engaging with the market is something I've never done before so this is the hard part.

Good questions, thanks for making me aware of how I should start approaching it from the marketing perspective.

I've attempted soft proof by subscribing to a few teachers forums/subreddits but once I've read the rules of some of them it became obvious it won't be as straightforward since they don't allow surveys.

 

[matewilk]

Just keep working on it. Say, you spend 50 hours to build something. Then spend another 50 hours trying to find at least one person who'd want to use it. For a software engineer, it is critically important to try to engage with the market and experience first hand, how hard it can be to find users for what seems like an amazing idea.

Thanks, as I've been doing software development for many years, doing something involving "soft" skills feels like a waste of time and I know this mindset I need to get rid off.
In my mind, something that does not involve complex problem solving feels like not doing anything, and I think the biggest factor of that is that it doesn't bring immediate results like programming does.
Another factor is probably the wealth of information and the way they are usually presented when researching marketing content. It's hard for me to distinguish what is good marketing vs scam vs bad marketing etc.
I always have ad blocks turned on, I never pay attention to ads etc, so probably it's worth switching them back on to learn how they are usually built and notice how they affect my attention depending on their content.

Probably doesn't make sense to pay someone else to do the marketing/surveys for me, so that I can teach myself the process and what it involves.
I'll have to get used to the idea that producing marketing content, looking for ways to get into the market, promote etc is part of the job.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Orionlab]

Thanks, as I've been doing software development for many years, doing something involving "soft" skills feels like a waste of time and I know this mindset I need to get rid off.
In my mind, something that does not involve complex problem solving feels like not doing anything, and I think the biggest factor of that is that it doesn't bring immediate results like programming does.
Another factor is probably the wealth of information and the way they are usually presented when researching marketing content. It's hard for me to distinguish what is good marketing vs scam vs bad marketing etc.
I always have ad blocks turned on, I never pay attention to ads etc, so probably it's worth switching them back on to learn how they are usually built and notice how they affect my attention depending on their content.

Probably doesn't make sense to pay someone else to do the marketing/surveys for me, so that I can teach myself the process and what it involves.
I'll have to get used to the idea that producing marketing content, looking for ways to get into the market, promote etc is part of the job.

I think marketing is the bigger part of building an actual internet business, it's easy to code, easy to design but when it comes to getting users to put their credit card, that's where the tire hits the road most especially now that everyone seems to be building the next best innovative AI software.
However I did like a one to one chat with you concerning your next move, perhaps if you fancy collaboration as a way of getting things done faster, I'm your marketing guy then... Let's talk.

 

[Andy Black]

The marketing / engaging with the market is something I've never done before so this is the hard part.

Don't make it harder than it is.

Your market are the people already spending money to solve the problem you can solve.

Sales is a screening process rather than a convincing process.

What are people already spending money on?

How can you get in front of them?

Maybe check out the first row or two of links in my signature.

 

[TeeJay_]

doing something involving "soft" skills feels like a waste of time and I know this mindset I need to get rid off.

A lot of people need to get rid of this idea. Being a good writer, speaker, communicator, understanding human behavior, can get you very far in life.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.