How can I get feedback from potential customers for an inclusive Christmas vacation concept as part of the customer development stage of my startup?

I'd avoid the cold email. The best way to get inside big companies like distributors is to "social engineer" a connection to someone there. Find a 2nd or 3rd degree connection on LinkedIn. Hang out at a restaurant near their HQ and look for people with the right badge on. Ask your potential angel for help connecting you. If they can't, they might not be the right investor for your company at this stage. Their investment should get you more than money, it should come with connections, advice and mentoring. Basically, there's no easy way to do this and every situation is different but it's going to take a lot more than a cold email or phone call.

Hmmm? This is a tough one because your product is so wonderfully horizontal, meaning it applies to a very broad set of cases. I'd slice and dice in two directions. First, I'd think about the general process of collaboration on a document, for example: a) drafting - are two people actually writing the words together? I personally don't like this. b) first read through together staying on the same sentence or page, c) editing together, etc. Second, I'd think about industries or verticals or contexts, such as in a Legal setting, in a Tech Documentation setting, in a coding or XP dual programming setting, in a social media post drafting setting, and so forth. Check out: https://medium.com/look-what-i-made/fd48c3b412bc Seems to be evocative of what you're doing, but targeted to one specific use case of "pair programming".

Find apps that are B2B and go to the review sections. Specifically going to Google's play or Chrome store and look at reviews and follow them to Google+ to engage. I took that same angle for B2C app I was building last year. Check it out. http://blendah.com/post/37331434653/lean-startup-hack

Steve Blank has already covered this in depth in his book 4 Steps to the Epiphany, as well as a video here: http://startupweekend.wistia.com/medias/tao3s8hf7l My approach is based on his outline, with a twist. 1) I try and conduct the interviews at the customers office or place of work, at minimum on their devide (computer, mobile phone) so I can ask to see how they work. 2) I never try and sell them on a the solution, but work hard to truly understand if/where the problem is. 3) Always provide guidance to the conversation, but ask open ended questions. 4) Ask questions like "What do you do 3 minutes before, and after, you do that action (or use our product)? Other tips would be - Write down the words they use. Metaphors and taxonomies are VERY important to ensuring your product is approachable. - Use 3 simple slides: Problem, Current Solutions, Proposed Solution Hope that helps.

That is an interesting situation and I am sure many others share a similar concern. I would recommend trying out Podio (free), it lets you create all sorts of templates to capture and work with information (text fields, categories, dates, etc). You can set it to receive e-mail for you and it will automatically insert the appropriate information into the fields (including attachments). You can decide if your staff only sees the name of the student and the attachment if you wish. You can also create a workflow that informs you when your staff members finish the corrections and are ready to be sent back. You can even use it to keep track of all pending essays, their progress and due dates so you are always on time. Let me know if you have any questions!