Community-driven development
Instead of thinking of what to build, get people to give them to you
I want to make a new product, but I’m struggling with ideas on what to build.
Yet when I turn my head and look at my Carrd plugins project, I am—on the contrary—overwhelmed with ideas for new plugins.
The funny thing is, I’m not even looking out for them. People literally hand them to me on a silver platter, sometimes directly (like “Hey have you thought of making this…?”), mostly indirectly (like “I got this problem, any help?”).
The contrast couldn’t be more stark.
That’s the biggest benefit of being plugged into a community. If you’re happy solving problems for the community, getting new ideas is easy peasy.
Like how I just launched a randomizer Carrd plugin this week. The conversation that seeded this literally happened a week ago. A friend and fellow Carrd maker Mark Bowley asked me about it, I saw the opportunity right away, and built a MVP the next day. And this week, I launched the plugin.
Maybe I should stop trying to think of something new to build from a vacuum, but instead find a new community I’m interested to be part of, and solve problems for them.
No need to think of strategies, do market research, speak to potential customers, think about technology trends.
Just be immersed in a community, be part of it and try to be helpful.
That’s it.
This sounds like what I believe the 30x500 Sales Safari largely is. Love that you have a very well defined community that you have access to. Might just be a little small still. But you’re very well positioned as it grows.