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Ask HN: How would you validate this idea?

1 points by trez ↗ HN
Dear HNers,

Until now, we failed to get some real feedback about our startup idea. We got a few like one or two "good idea" or "I can already do that without your product" but nothing which would really help us to know if we are in a not too bad direction or if we should correct our plan.

In one line our idea is: build an API to customise PDF templates with some user data.

If you want to know a bit more: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5601127.

Knowing this idea target developers and/or designers, how would you try to get some valuable feedback from them? The best would be to be able to chat with few people having needs in that area.

Any idea welcomed.

6 comments

[ 1.8 ms ] story [ 22.7 ms ] thread
twanlass
Hey guys send me an email - twanlass at gmail.com
dragonbonheur
Sorry to rain on your parade but I don't think it's a good idea to build a startup around that. Besides, investors with money to invest probably have more than enough money to clone it within days. I don't see any way you could make money with this and I also think that anyone can do it with libraries like pdf.js if they really wanted to.
trez
thx for your feedback. There might be something unclear about the idea but it's not really something straightforward. There is already a lot of software with similar features, the most famous one would be inDesign server. Pdf.js allow to view PDF file but not to integrate user data at some specific place. You can also code it manually but the aim here is to have multiple PDF templates (like posters, menu restaurant, etc..) and coding it everytime wouldn't be that efficient.
dragonbonheur
How about coding an interface to manipulate pdf.js output? That library can also output files, so it's not just for viewing. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9328551/how-to-use-pdf-js

Also, Libre/Open Office/Symphony can all output to PDF format. there are also lots of virtual PDF printer drivers around for free. It's a crowded market.

Edit: after more investigation, it turns out the right library is jsPDF http://jspdf.com/

trez
Libre office/Open office doesn't solve the same problem. Our goal is not to create a PDF from scratch but to create a copy of an existing PDF with some customised information added by a non technical user. Basically the best usage I would imagine would be a CV creator.

I totally agree the market is crowded but they are mainly on desktop application whereas we target website integration. That's still a crowded market but we feel there is a place for less "corporate" way of doing it, ie to not pay $10 000+ and have a SDK to integrate in your website.

Thanks again for taking time to giving your point of view.