the startups.com platform about startups.comCheck out the new Startups.com - A Comprehensive Startup University
Education
Planning
Mentors
Funding
Customers
Assistants
Clarity
Categories
Business
Sales & Marketing
Funding
Product & Design
Technology
Skills & Management
Industries
Other
Business
Career Advice
Branding
Financial Consulting
Customer Engagement
Strategy
Sectors
Getting Started
Human Resources
Business Development
Legal
Other
Sales & Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Public Relations
Branding
Publishing
Inbound Marketing
Email Marketing
Copywriting
Growth Strategy
Search Engine Marketing
Sales & Lead Generation
Advertising
Other
Funding
Crowdfunding
Kickstarter
Venture Capital
Finance
Bootstrapping
Nonprofit
Other
Product & Design
Identity
User Experience
Lean Startup
Product Management
Metrics & Analytics
Other
Technology
WordPress
Software Development
Mobile
Ruby
CRM
Innovation
Cloud
Other
Skills & Management
Productivity
Entrepreneurship
Public Speaking
Leadership
Coaching
Other
Industries
SaaS
E-commerce
Education
Real Estate
Restaurant & Retail
Marketplaces
Nonprofit
Other
Dashboard
Browse Search
Answers
Calls
Inbox
Sign Up Log In

Loading...

Share Answer

Menu
Start-ups: Is my business idea feasible? Please give me feedback for letting me know the weak points of my idea.
JP
JP
Jeremiah Prummer, eCommerce & SaaS. Doing CRO before CRO was cool. answered:

I've launched a few businesses and projects and worked in startups for years so hopefully my insight is somewhat valuable. :)

This sounds like a good idea, but I think there are two questions you need to answer:

1. Is there any competition?
2. If not, why is no-one else doing this already?

If this isn't being done already it's probably because it's very difficult as this definitely seems like a good idea. If I understand correctly you're attempting to build a marketplace. I'm in the process of building a marketplace and have worked in a marketplace startup in the past. I can tell you it's extremely difficult because you have to market to both the supply side (advertisers) and the demand side (app developers).

Targeted Ads: if you're going to be bringing in advertisers to show their ads in mobile apps you're going to have to take into consideration the fact that each app may have a very different audience. That means you will need to customize which ads are displayed in which apps, which introduces a whole extra layer of complexity to your system.

Ease of Use: This needs to be extremely easy for the advertiser, customer and developer. If it's not easy for any one of the three groups it will not work.

Proof of effectiveness: Both the advertiser and the developer need to know that your system works. That means building in reporting, and probably tracking conversions for both the advertiser and the developer. Not an easy task by any means...

Pricing: This is extremely important. How do you make money? Make sure your incentives align with both sides of the marketplace. The developer wants to maximize payment they receive for displaying advertisements and the advertiser wants to minimize their cost to acquire a customer. You need to make sure that the better you do at meeting their incentives the more money you make. It will encourage you to build a better system and reward you for giving your customers what they need.

Last, but certainly not least, evaluate and see if there is reasonable way you can do this leaning on existing advertising networks. If you can minimize the work on the supply side (getting advertisers) it will greatly increase your chance of succeeding. Once you have a strong network of developers you can always go out and recruit your own advertisers.

If you want to chat more let me know and we can schedule a call. :)

Talk to Jeremiah Upvote • Share
•••
Share Report

Answer URL

Share Question

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Google+
  • Share by email
About
  • How it Works
  • Success Stories
Experts
  • Become an Expert
  • Find an Expert
Answers
  • Ask a Question
  • Recent Answers
Support
  • Help
  • Terms of Service
Follow

the startups.com platform

Startups Education
Startup Planning
Access Mentors
Secure Funding
Reach Customers
Virtual Assistants

Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.