What Rebecca Black’s Friday can teach us about problem/solution validation
Unless you've been living under a cave for the last week, you would've seen some form of Rebecca Black's music video, Friday. The video has garnered over 45 million views and has been a top trending topic on Twitter for the last 2 weeks.
Like all well adjusted internet users, I usually read comments when I am moved by a video, especially one with over 90% of dislikes. A lot of the commenters were incredibly passionate about their disdain for the song's inane lyrics, formulaic pop rhythm and the singer's auto-tuned voice. I didn't think anyone could have more haters than Justin Bieber.
As part of SnapCast's lean startup process, we've been doing problem/solution validation interviews for the last 3 weeks. Whenever we find someone who responses passionately about your problem or solution (good or bad), our eyes light up. We have spoken to many people who were luke warm - they were neither extremely excited nor incredibly negative. They say things like, "Yeah, I can see how this could work" or "If I tried it and I liked it, I'll use it". To me, reactions that are in the middle are the least useful when analyzing our data.
What you want to look for is a passionate "I love it" or "I hate it" response. Then you know you've hit a nerve. You want to avoid the dreaded "zone or mediocrity".
Obviously if you find users who are passionate about your solution, you are on the right track to turn them into your early adopters. But how do you deal with the haters? What if people hate your idea or your solution? How do you pivot?
There was one segment (hobbyist photographers) we interviewed who were really critical of our idea and solution. (SnapCast creates visually engaging photo "stories" from your photo sets, sort of like a web version of Instagram, but for photo albums). Another segment, mobile phone users, were really luke warm. We dug deep into our data and came out with very interesting insights, pointing us to a different segment of users.
As for Rebecca Black, I think her critics points out the obvious too - her segment is not the internet trolls who are lambasting her with negative comments. Shallow lyrics and cookie cutter rhythm? Sure, maybe for you and me, but ask the 12 yr old girls I over heard singing Friday at my daughter's grade school and they will tell you Friday is awesome! (and tomorrow's Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards...)