Launched this week
IdeasNest is a public gallery where anyone can post a startup idea and get feedback from founders and mentors. It's free, no pitch decks, no paywall. Every idea answers four questions: who it's for, why there's demand, your ideal customers and how you'd reach them, so readers have something real to respond to. An optional investor section covers the commercial side. Nothing asks you to reveal your IP. Private "nests" let a cohort, university or incubator share ideas with just their group.
I reckon this was a good idea when you launched it on a WhatsApp Group. This new devopment should increase the visibility of new ideas and businesses. I hope that it will "spread the word" about new entrepreneurs activities, such as those of my alumna @Malindi Mwangi.
@Malindi @professor_nigel_adams Thank you Nigel. It did start on a WhatsApp group, and honestly that's still the test: does an idea get a real response, or polite silence?
Malindi's already there, as it happens: The Florienta App has been on IdeasNest since December and has picked up three comments. Visibility is exactly the problem though until last week the gallery only showed the 60 most recent ideas, so hers was effectively invisible. That's fixed now. If you've got alumni with ideas sitting in drawers, send them over. They'll get read.
This would be an incredible platform for our students in the Global Innovation and Design Lab at the University of Washington Tacoma. Free and honest feedback, experienced critique, an opportunity to stumble in a low stakes environment—these are all what students crave. Looking forward to sharing this right away!
@divya_mcmillin Divya, this is the use case I built nests for, so I'd rather give you something concrete than thank you.
A nest is a private space inside IdeasNest for one group. Your students post ideas there, only the lab sees them, and you decide whether anything ever becomes public. It's free, there's no limit on members, and they sign in with a one-time email link, no passwords to administer, which matters with a cohort.
ARU London have been running one for a while: 21 members. The Launch Pad at the University of Miami have another. Both are open ones, but yours can be closed to just the lab.
"An opportunity to stumble in a low stakes environment" is exactly the thing. Students won't put an unfinished idea where their peers and future employers can see it, and that's precisely when the idea most needs reading.
Say the word and I'll set up a Global Innovation and Design Lab nest and send you the invite link. Takes me five minutes.
Really like the idea behind this.
I’ve personally got a lot of useful advice and feedback on my own ideas through @skrystman and the mentoring network, so I can see the value of having a place like this.
@beal_digital Thank you Shambaditya, that means more coming from you than from me, because you've actually been on the receiving end of it.
Which gives me an opening I'm going to take: you've commented on other people's ideas on IdeasNest but never put one of your own up. I'd like to change that. Post it today and I'll give it a proper response, not a "nice one", the same treatment you've had from the network.
This will be a good space for aspiring entrepreneurs yo get critical feedback on their ideas.
@winifred_soribe Thank you Winifred and "critical" is the word I'd want on the tin. Encouragement is easy to come by; someone telling you the demand isn't there is rarer and worth more.
You've actually been a member since July without posting anything. I'd rather change that than leave it as a compliment: put an idea up and I'll give it a proper response myself. Same offer stands if you'd rather read a few first. Mario's Mystery on Main Street and Emma's Coaching Brain Chat both went up today and both have real conversations under them.
I've watched 12 Ronnies provide expert and objective feedback for testing startup ideas for some years now. Mobilising it at scale like this seems a very logical and welcome next step.
@chris_fox3 Thank you Chris. "Mobilising it at scale" is the right way to put it. The thing that always worked was a handful of people giving an idea an honest read, and the only question was whether that survives being opened up.
Today suggests it does. Claire Fuller posted an idea about Britain stopping to read for an hour; this afternoon she had four people working through it with her, including someone who's spent his career in the book trade. None of that was arranged.
You've been a member since July without posting one of your own, mind. I'd rather fix that than take the compliment.