Hard to believe its only been 3 days here in the Nucleus. Today was action packed; I did three pitches today, including one to David Quinn, the head of the Audacious Entrepreneurship Programme. I received some great feedback, and while at one point during the day I felt tremendously overwhelmed with the size and number of components of my idea, I feel much more at ease now.
I made some good headway today in connecting with potential users. I've started discussions on Reddit, Quora and Forrst. DQ is going to put me in touch with Paul Hanson (of 1000minds.com and an economics professor at the University of Otago). I need to validate the legal parameters of my idea, and while Paul may not be a securities law expert, I'm sure he will offer some great advice and point possibly me towards some people who will help shine light on that problem.
I look forward to speaking to some of Paul's students as well as talking to other university students about some of the concepts my idea touches on. Part of the difficulty in doing this type of research surrounds asking the right questions without being too confining or too direct. To truly get to know the user, you have to observe them in their environment and engage in genuine conversation with them.
I didn't manage to get to the customer personas today; I hope to get that done early tomorrow. I'm exhausted right now; my mind is tired. I'm going to watch part of a movie and get to bed.