7 Proof of Concept Examples from Real Startups

Test the waters with an explainer video (Dropbox)

When you think of a proof of concept, you probably don’t think of making a video. But, that’s exactly what Dropbox did in the early days of their business. They aimed to answer the question “does this solution resonate with people.”

And, resonate it did.

The video demonstrating potential basic features of the software went viral. Dropbox’s beta sign-up list went from 5,000 to 75,000 overnight thanks to the proof of concept video they built.

Using a simple video (as opposed to actual working software), Dropbox was able to draw a very large audience. This accomplished a few things. First, it helped them validate that their idea was valid - they had real people interested in it! And, second, they built an audience (future paying customers) before the product was even built.

Build demand before you have a product (SwipeWell)

Dropbox created demand by using a video, but there are many other ways to generate (and validate) demand before you ever have a product. Many companies such as AngelList and SwipeWell have built simple websites and blogs to stir up interest before they ever built a full product.

AngelList, a company that started as a site introducing tech startups to investors, made a very early business introduction by way of a blog. The blog garnered so much interest that they used it to build an email list, which later turned into a means to acquire their first customers.

SwipeWell recently announced on Twitter that they have 1,000 accounts created before they’ve launched their product. This is another proof of concept process that is built around the idea that you can (and should) build demand before you have a product. Doing so allows you to first and foremost prove there is interest in your idea, and second, allow you to more quickly scale once your product is launched.

Validate an idea through customer interviews (Drip)

Email marketing engine, Drip, aimed to validate the value of their product idea by talking to potential customers. The founder conducted interviews within his own network to see how much people would be willing to pay for the product he aimed to develop.

This proof of concept example demonstrates the value in keeping this phase high-level. The aim of the PoC should be to validate the proposed idea, not to provide technical proof of its validity or provide a working model of the end product.

OpenBay also interviewed customers during the proof of concept stage, but their goal was to see what people thought of their idea more generally. As a marketplace platform, they wanted to validate that both sides of the marketplace resonated with their potential product.

Doing this type of market research through interviewing your target audience is a great way to prove your business concept is valid before you begin the costly software development process.

Evaluate an idea with crowdfunding (Allbirds)

It’s one thing to ask people how much they would pay for a product. It’s another thing altogether to actually ask people to _pay. _That’s exactly what companies like Allbirds and Pebble did long before they had a shipping product.

Today it’s easy to set up crowdfunding through a site like Kickstarter. A business can put their idea out into the market and have the option for people to “pre-pay” for the product before it’s actually ready. This type of proof of concept tests not just if people are interested but if they’ll actually get out their credit cards and put real money in.

It’s a great option for companies who are looking to kill two birds with one stone and validate consumer interest and also raise capital to move onto building a prototype or minimum viable product.

Asses demand with a landing page (Buffer)

If you’re not up for putting your project on a site like Kickstarter, you could opt to build a simple landing page or website to assess demand. Many brands, like Buffer story, are opting to do this “pre-marketing” work before they are even fully funded.

It’s a great way to not only see if people are interested in your idea but also to start establishing yourself in the market and building the foundations of SEO-driven content. This type of proof of concept demonstrates the value of putting your idea out there as early as possible, rather than waiting until you have a minimum viable product.

Experiment with a simple prototype (Instacart)

Prototypes and proof of concepts are often confused. You might hear people actually use these two terms interchangeably, but they are quite different.

In general prototypes are at least a somewhat functional version of the end product. Prototypes aren’t typically a version of the product you could actually ship to customers, but they are an early version that can be used to raise funding or conduct testing.

However, a really early prototype could be used as a proof of concept. Sometimes the best way to test feasibility of something is to actually try to build it.

Instacart founder Apoorva Mehta did just that. He created a simple app that he used as both the “shopper” and the “customer.” He used this early prototype version of Instacart to validate his idea was possible.

Similarly, Stripe founders built a quick-and-dirty version of their app in their college dorm rooms. Their aim was less to validate its feasibility and more to experiment with functionality and get input from friends.

Building a very basic prototype as your proof of concept can work for many companies. Sometimes the only way to try out an idea is to put in a little software development work early on. However, be very cautious that you do not overspend on this stage of product development. If you can’t implement the simple prototype yourself (or at least at a very low cost), we recommend you try a different software proof of concept process.

Let another company do the heavy lifting (Etsy)

Sometimes instead of building a proof of concept from scratch you can simply observe what’s already working in the market and base a product off of that.

This is exactly what Etsy did. They observed how well eBay was doing, and they decided to build a similar site that was more craft-focused.

This validation-by-observation is perhaps the simplest form of a proof of concept. But, you should be careful not to make too many assumptions when doing this kind of observation. eBay may have helped prove the validity of a digital consumer-to-consumer marketplace, but it didn’t necessarily prove the validity of such a site for the crafting niche.

Regardless, letting other companies do the heavy lifting and using keen observation skills can help prevent unnecessary spending on a pilot project or proof of concept.