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Ask HN: How to Gauge Interest While in Stealth-mode

1 points by gierach ↗ HN
I have an idea for a site that I suspect would be useful to members of a niche online community. I would like to float my idea around to gauge interest. The problem is that the idea is somewhat easy to implement and the community is made up of technically-skilled people with free time. Is it a good idea to announce the idea and create a sign-up site to collect emails and/or opinions? Does anyone know of a better way to gauge interest?

3 comments

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agscala
If it's that easy to implement, just build it yourself.
gierach
I plan to, if there is interest. It's easy in that the solution is straightforward and there are few difficult technical problems to solve. It will, however, require a substantial time commitment to build, which is why I'd like to gauge the market first.
agscala
If that's true, I don't think you need to worry about people "stealing" your idea. Most people don't have the drive to stop what they're doing follow through with someone else's idea just because it sounds nice.

My advice is to feel free to talk about it and gauge interest. If you're that worried, just choose who you share with wisely (don't share it with people currently looking for an idea to work on), but I really doubt it will be an issue.