A few years ago I realized I had been suffering in silence with a certain problem. And surely, I couldn’t be the only one.
The Idea
Initially, I wanted to build a cross-device application that managed healthcare information for a very specific market that gave the user power over their own data.
After quite a bit of online research, I launched fact-finding and user research missions and came to the conclusion that millions of people have the same problem that I do. There are very few solutions that exist, and they all have a laundry list of problems &em; terrible design, high cost, lack of functionality, addressing the wrong problems, etc.
Why It Failed
I don’t know that ‘failed’ is technically the right word; maybe ‘waiting for the right time’ would be better. After doing more and more research and interviews, I started pitching the idea to friends, startup accelerators, and even a few investors, and I received a lot of positive feedback and interest. Several partners in the market even signed on to pilot the software when it was available.
Ultimately, after listening to all of the feedback and the continued market research, I decided it would be premature to launch in a market that wasn’t quite ready for what we were selling. Once the specific market matures, it will be really fun to reevaluate.
What I Learned
The lessons I learned setting this company up were truly innumerable and all invaluable. Starting a software company is not for the faint of art, but I really enjoyed the process. Ideas are my brain fuel, and it was amazing to put all of my ideas to real tests with real investors and real target consumers. Maybe sooner than later the wheels will get put back on the bus and we’ll hit the road again.