So here's the rub: if you've already built an MVP, but have only spoken with 3 prospects to date, you're kinda going about this wrong (IMO). You should probably have spoken to dozens of prospects before writing a single line of code. Probably multiple dozens, actually. You shouldn't be writing any code at all until you already have a pretty good idea that the problem you're trying to solve is real AND that customers have at least some interest in a solution like what you're proposing to create.

There's also no real point in running ads when all you have is an MVP. Ads are for demand generation once you have a really solid handle on the problem, the product, sales channels, etc.

My suggestion would be the following:

1. Stop writing code or doing any development work

2. Cut expenses to the bone by any means necessary so that you're "default alive" no matter what (for the foreseeable future anyway)

3. Get yourself a copy of The Four Steps to the Epiphany[1] by Steve Blank. Read it. Then read it again.

4. Go through the customer development process as outlined by Blank, and start talking to prospects.

5. Don't start writing code again until/unless you sync up to that point where the process has you starting to take an MVP out to show to prospects.

6. Pick up from there and follow the process.

Now an exception would be this: you talk about a mature market. IF there are already plenty of well established, mature, market proven solutions that do more or less the same thing as your proposed solution, then you can skip some of the validation stuff. I mean, you could guarantee that you're at least building "something people want" by just copying one or more of your competitors. BUT... if all you're doing is copying a competitor, you have to ask "why would a customer buy your solution instead of theirs?"

Ideally in that case, you have some vision or idea for a "thing" that distinguishes your solution from the others on the market. In that case, though, you still have to validate that the market players actually see your proposed solution as better than the other solutions OR you need to be "at least as good as the others" but significantly cheaper, or something.

In terms of addressing all of that, a couple of books I'd suggest reading include:

1. The Discipline of Market Leaders[2]

2. Differentiate or Die[3]

3. Zero to One[4]

4. Traction[5]

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Successful-Strate...

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Market-Leaders-Customers-D...

[3]: https://www.amazon.com/Differentiate-Die-Survival-Killer-Com...

[4]: https://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/080...

[5]: https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Cu...

This starts as a pet project which was an excuse to keep in touch, experiment with new technologies and most importantly have fun.

Given that, it sounds like you've already won, no matter what happens next.

As far as advice goes, I'll just leave a couple of book recommendations.

https://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Market-Leaders-Customers-D...

https://www.amazon.com/Differentiate-Die-Survival-Killer-Com...

https://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Al-Ries/dp/00...

https://www.amazon.com/Its-that-Small-Fast-Slow/dp/006662053...

Probably not, unless you have some real "secret sauce" that lets you operate at greatly lower cost than the original. Otherwise you just create a "race to the bottom" scenario where, at best, you (and your competitor) will wind up with a profit margin of like 0.000001% or something. Why bother?

If you're going to clone something and engage the "fast follower strategy"[1], I'd still try to choose some other dimension to compete on. See The Discipline of Market Leaders[2] for more.

[1]: https://hbr.org/2012/06/first-mover-or-fast-follower

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Market-Leaders-Customers-D...

We try to be pretty transparent in most things at Fogbeam. We actually consider our small size a selling point, and it dovetails with our strategy vis-a-vis The Discipline of Market Leaders[1], which is to focus on customer intimacy.

When I talk to prospects, I emphasize that, since we're small, we will be very responsive to their needs, and that they get access to the highest levels of the company in a way they never would with, say, IBM or Oracle.

"With us, you'll have the CEO's personal cellphone number, and you can call and wake me up at 2:00am if you need to. I hope you don't need to, but you'll have that option if need be. And you won't get that from Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, etc."

As far as burn rate and financial data... we don't actively disclose that to the world, because there doesn't appear (at first blush) to be an value in it. But we do disclose a lot of stuff (sales leads, prospects, product roadmap details, etc.) to our advisory board members, and a group of 20-30 or so people (investors, potential partners, etc.) who have expressed at least some interest in knowing what we're up to.

[1]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Discipline-Market-Leaders-Customer...

Wow, lots of good recommendations in this thread already... I skimmed them, but apologies in advance for any dupes:

I'd suggest some general "business strategy" works that will help you understand the context of how/why the very highest level business decisions are made, as well as some works that deal with tying together strategy and tactical execution (which includes technical initiatives).

1. Understanding Michael Porter - John Magretta. http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Michael-Porter-Essential...

Porter's framework is VERY influential in the business world, and having at least a passing familiarity with his work is important at the higher levels. Going straight to the primary sources (Porter's books) can be a bit daunting as they are big, dry, and academic and not exactly what you'd call "page turners". This book is a fairly solid overview of the key elements of Porter's approach, and a good read before diving into the meat of Porter's works.

2. Competitive Strategy - Michael Porter. http://www.amazon.com/Competitive-Strategy-Techniques-Indust...

3. Competitive Advantage - Michael Porter. http://www.amazon.com/Competitive-Advantage-Creating-Sustain...

4. On Competition - Michael Porter. http://www.amazon.com/On-Competition-Updated-Expanded-Editio...

5. Good Strategy, Bad Strategy - Richard Rumelt. http://www.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-Difference-Matters/d...

6. Blue Ocean Strategy - W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne. http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Ocean-Strategy-Uncontested-Compet... This book has its critics, but I think it's a worthwhile read. Some people argue against the whole idea of a "blu e ocean" market, but even if the authors aren't 100% right about everything, I think the lines of thinking this book fosters are valuable in a general sense.

7. The Discipline of Market Leaders. http://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Market-Leaders-Customers-Do... I think very highly of this book and the author's approach to strategy. It's not radically different from the Porterian approach in some ways, but I'd say it's narrower in focus and simpler. The big takeway is the idea (which should be obvious, but often isn't) that "you can't be everything to everyone". The authors push a model of choosing a market discipline to appeal to a certain type of customer, and making that discipline the core of your business.

8. The Machine That Changed The World. http://www.amazon.com/Machine-That-Changed-World-Revolutioni... Have you ever wondered what this "lean" stuff is all about? Or why Toyota is so revered by business leaders? Here's a good place to find the answer to those questions.

9. Working Knowledge- Davenport and Prusak. http://www.amazon.com/Working-Knowledge-Thomas-H-Davenport/d... Perhaps the seminal book on Knowledge Management, or at least one of them. If you want to understand the importance of knowledge in an organization, this is a very valuable read.

10. Outside Innovation - Patricia Seybold. http://www.amazon.com/Outside-Innovation-Customers-Co-Design...

11. The Future of Competition. http://www.amazon.com/Future-Competition-Co-Creating-Unique-...

12. The Balanced Scorecard. http://www.amazon.com/Balanced-Scorecard-Translating-Strateg...

13. Strategy Maps. http://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Maps-Converting-Intangible-Ta...

14. The Strategy Focused Organization. http://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Focused-Organization-Scorecar...

15. If Only We Knew What We Know. http://www.amazon.com/Only-Knew-What-Know-Knowledge/dp/14516... Another seminal title in the Knowledge Management world.

16. Common Knowledge - Nancy Dixon. http://www.amazon.com/Common-Knowledge-Companies-Thrive-Shar... Another seminal title in the Knowledge Management world.

17. Winning The Knowledge Transfer Race. http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Knowledge-Transfer-Michael-Eng...

The key point to all of this, to me, is understanding the idea that "You can't be everything to everybody". So you have competitors, and they're even "stealing" your features... fine. They have (implicitly or explicitly) a value discipline of some sort... figure out what the value discipline of your competitors is, and then figure out what you want your value discipline to be. Once you have that, you know how you're going to compete in the market... by having the lowest price, by having the best product, or by having better "customer intimacy".

This is all explained very well in The Discipline of Market Leaders.[1]

[1]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Discipline-Market-Leaders-Customer...