[001sky]

Why did you meet with this person? Is he a manager/peer or an actual part of your target market? Is your peer-group or managers your target market? Political dynamics can complicate product development. The "not invented here syndrome" is a classic.

People may not want to show the product respect or attention for selfish motives.

Alternatively, consider the 10x better benchmark. Many people will face legitimate costs to switching their routine/existing solutions. So, for a 10% better product, the ROI is still negative for them. This is a more legitimate and yet still common form of 'resistance' that is expressed as general apathy in many contexts. Particularly in enterprise or big-co outside customers.

To try to evaluate if it is the former or the latter, consider approaching a mix of people for feedback. Most importantly, evaluate their credentials and motives as part of your process.

[sithu]

Very helpful- thank you. I'm ok with actionable negative feedback, but apathy I don't know how to interpret. This person is a peer- and the target users will be my peers. I've talked to several peers (some friends, and others more like co-workers). The product is more social than for business, but I do keep in mind that people have to get some return/value for time spent though.