How do you get feedback from potential customers of a startup idea?

Question

I have an idea for a software application for the animation industry. However, I'm having trouble getting any feedback from people in the industry.I've tried a bunch of different approaches. People will sometimes respond if I vaguely say "can I ask you a couple of questions?", but as soon as I mention new product idea, they stop responding.Any tricks? What worked for you?

ffhhj · Accepted Answer

I would look for animation agencies to quote a project in a way that allowed me to interview the team, and would tell them something on the lines of: "some guy offered me to use his app on this project and it works this way, is it a good idea or is the guy nuts?". Setting the "other guy" as someone you don't care about should bring you honest answers.

kleer001 · Answer

I have so many questions...In what forum are you asking your questions? IRL? Over the phone? On a website forum? At a convention? At a bar? With friends? Strangers? Co-workers?They who? Who are you asking? Potential users? Potential buyers? Other providers? Students? Pros? Teachers?Do you have a MVP? A pretotype? What are you showing these people?Are you in the animation industry? Been there before?Is this idea just inspired? Did it come about from interviews with artists?And last, but not least, have you seen a few seasons worth of Shark Tank or Dragon's Den? Naturally they're edited for drama and some of the offers are unhinged, but quite often an episode contains a bit of real talk and sage advice from the Sharks/Dragons about how to start, run, and grow a business.edit: I work in the vfx industry so I'm personally invested in you succeeding to help out animators!