16, have a legitimate idea that's not out there and in a major industry. What's next?

Not the OP commenter... but to back him up... validation is not "yeah that sounds like it has potential" from people any industry. Validation is having a significant (key word here is SIGNIFICANT) number of customers or clients who are already paying for a similar product or service, or would be willing to pay a verifiable amount.

And for perspective, my credentials include advising the c-suite of technology providers with revenues up to $250M on how to grow, market, and scale better against their competitors.

I also use lmao and send dank memes to friends. There's a spectrum of people in the world, kid.

But to answer your question... fork out some money to have a graphic designer create prototype images of what you'd want to have your application look like without having to explain it's potential functionality. If and when you are ready, hire a team to create the code with these prototype images to create a MVP (minimally viable product) i.e. something that isn't 100% perfect but will get the job done.

From there, gather a small audience of beta testers to put your app to use and collect feedback on additional features/functionalities. Rinse and repeat. Do this after you gain some humility though.

Ideas are worth nothing. Trust me... anyone could have said they want to create an electric car company or create an online payment system... but there are only so many people like the Elon Musk's and Peter Thiel's in the world that can ACTUALLY build/engineer the products, create the companies, gather the teams, make them successful, and scale them to profitability.

/r/Entrepreneur Thread Parent