[shubhamjain]

The point in the article that deserves more attention is how creating a landing page was the most useful tool for the author. Sometimes I feel, before writing the first line of code of the project, the more important thing to do is to create a landing page and market it to the concerned audience.

This solves three problems -

1) You won't build something people don't need.

2) You get into touch with people who actually want to use your product and you can steer your idea into a more clear direction.

3) The leads motivate you (as it did with author).

[atmosx]

That is smart. It never crossed my mind, but it's actually a good idea.

UPDATE: op writes "Fast forward to today: I launched Stage to the public. I’m still embarrassed, because there a lot of things missing and it has some rough edges here and there."

That's the main reason I (and many others) never thought of even launching a landing page for our side-projects (that never get completed). I'm kinda embarrassed, because instead on being happy for what I've done, I feel bad for what I didn't but could have done (if I had put more time and effort, if I was a better designer, etc.).

[brobinson]

The "idea/market validation" landing page + $100 advertising budget is a key concept from the "Start Small, Stay Small" book the author mentioned. It's saved me from wasting time/money a few times so far, and I'm sure it will continue to do so in the future!

[bbrazil]

Since starting my own business recently I've been doing a lot of networking at various tech/entrepreneur events. It continues to amaze me just how many people with an idea, or even several months into building product, have yet to talk to a potential customer.

[p0larboy]

Read the book and launch my own landing page: http://www.getcueapp.com/. Spent around $120 on adwords and had around 2% conversion rate.. I am not so sure about the quality of conversion because I didn't do the double opt-in method as suggested.

[brobinson]

I really like the site layout! Would you mind sharing it? I'm looking for a base layout for an app I'm close to launching at the moment, actually.

[kyriakos]

Although I agree with your points, there is something about this that bothers me every time I start on a project and think of making a landing page. My concern is, what if I take too long to launch from the day the landing page goes online? Won't that mean I lose any of the potential customers that found my product idea interesting in the first place?

[benediktdeicke]

Even if you don't convert anyone from the mailing list, you're still better off than without it. You know that there is interest in your product and that there will be more people looking for a solution like yours. It's very unlikely that all potential customers ever will sign up to your mailing list long before your launch.