When Lightster founder, Pat Sathiensamrit, worked as a product manager, he struggled with a recurring issue: finding users in time to make decisions. Accessing a user base and testing products for user feedback can be a challenging and incredibly costly process. Sathiensamrit wanted to make that process instantaneous, where product developers could connect with their targeted user base on demand and at a lower cost.
And so, Sathiensamrit founded Lightster, a platform where early-stage start-ups can instantly connect with users for co-creation. The Lightster app is built around communities, which users are placed into upon creating their profile. For example, a user may be placed within a community for e-commerce shoppers, small business owners, or students. When founders join Lightster, their target user base is already built into the platform and will be ready to provide feedback through live calls.
Lightster was built as a community model because they wanted to foster on-going co-creation relationships between founders and users. One of the drawbacks of focus groups and surveys is the one-time interaction, where creators cannot access the same participants again.
“Let’s say you’ve got some feedback [in a focus group or survey] and you implement into your product. Now, you want to validate it with the same person that gave you that input, but they’re gone. “ Sathiensamrit says. “With Lightster, once you start talking with somebody on the platform, the history is there. The creators can come back to the same user with that implemented feedback and ask them what they think.”
Lightster offers a mutual benefit for both the creators and users.
On the creator end, start-ups can instantly connect with their desired user base through live voice or video calls.
“We’re trying to serve them that need by giving them instant user communities that they can tap into based on what problem they’re solving and how they define their target users,” Sathiensamrit says.
The users are offered monetary incentives through a dollar-per-minute compensation model or through non-monetary rewards, such as premium access to the start-up’s product. The communication tools and payment process are all built into the platform.
Sathiensamrit wanted to provide users with an opportunity for additional income that didn’t require any prior investments.
“We believe we’re well positioned to be flexible, where those side hustlers can think about what time in the day they want to carve out for this and be able to do it from anywhere,” Sathiensamrit says. “And the best part is they just have to be themselves. They don’t have to invest in a bike or a house. They can just be who they are, and as long as there’s truth to that, then they will do well on our platform.”
Sathiensamrit’s vision for Lightster’s future is based on further integrating co-creation into the product development world.
“Imagine a world where it’s much more collaborative, where it’s not so much, ‘I made this,’ or ‘You bought that,’ but rather, ‘I made the product that I wanted.’”
ICUBE MEMBER PERKS
Are you an ICUBE member? Lightster has partnered with ICUBE to provide a free six-month-long Starter Package.
As an ICUBE member, you will get:
- 5 free calls with your potential user, with your own custom screening criteria
- Option to offer early access to your product in place of monetary incentives
- Free dedicated e-mail and phone support
- Create your own user communities with custom criteria (coming soon)
- Unlimited free chat history (coming soon)
- Bring your own users for free (coming soon)
For more information, visit: https://www.lightster.co/icube-member-perk/
