paragQuestion / Claim
Creating a reward-driven ecosystem will motivate SMEs to openly share real business problems, enabling developers to build useful software.
Key Assumptions
- SMEs are more motivated by tangible business value than by generic feedback requests(high confidence)
- Providing rewards like credits, influence, or discounts will overcome interview fatigue(medium confidence)
- Developers need validated problems more than ideas(high confidence)
- An AI-first, product-led experience can surface SME problems without requiring upfront human interviews(medium confidence)
- Agentic systems observing real workflows produce higher-quality problem insights than self-reported feedback(medium confidence)
Evidence & Observations
- Observation that SMEs often disengage from interviews unless they see immediate value(personal)
- Customer development interviews are more effective when participants see direct value or outcomes from participation.(citation)
- Early adopter and co-creation programs increase customer engagement and product-market fit.(citation)
- Founding customer and early access programs are commonly used by startups to incentivize feedback and long-term engagement.(citation)
- Product-led growth works best when value is delivered before any sales or interview interaction(citation)
- AI copilots that analyze existing business data increase engagement by reducing user effort(citation)
Open Uncertainties
- What minimum reward is sufficient to sustain long-term SME participation?
- How to prevent gaming of the reward system?
- Will SMEs trust read-only AI agents with business data early on?
- What is the minimum integration needed to create a strong wow moment?
Current Position
I believe SMEs will consistently talk and share honest problems if conversations are tied to concrete rewards, influence, and visible outcomes.
This is work-in-progress thinking, not a final conclusion.
References(5)
- 1.^"Get Out of the Building"↗steveblank.com— Steve Blank on why direct customer conversations are critical to discovering real problems.
- 2.^"Why Co-Creation Is the Future of Innovation"↗hbr.org— Harvard Business Review article on engaging customers as co-creators.
- 3.^"How to Talk to Users"↗ycombinator.com— Y Combinator guidance on effective user conversations and incentives.
- 4.^
- 5.^"The Economic Potential of Generative AI"↗mckinsey.com— McKinsey analysis of productivity gains from AI copilots and agents.
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