Let’s accept that most developers/makers jump too quickly to building, making assumptions about future customer behaviour.
I’m older, have been an IT Director, and own a maker space in a smaller city. I’ve owned the space we’re in for over 25 years… it’s not just going away.
With AI, and all the other tools out there, building projects gets easier by the day.
My question to the group is this: If the ‘fundamental activity of a startup is to turn ideas into products, measure how customers respond, and then learn whether to pivot or persevere’ (from Lean Startup), why not create this as the centerpiece of an organization? A startup that had a system in place to more rapidly get customer feedback… building this into each project’s development.
As makers, we need feedback. We need people to test things, tell us what’s valuable, and what stinks. I could build something online, maybe it’s been done. I’m not against giving people a slice of a project (or a slice of all the projects) for linking people up who are a part of a target market.