** Making BBQ better **
GE's FirstBuild is taking innovation to new heights with their new indoor smoker - check it out!
[ ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#) [ ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#)
Spotted in the wild:
** FirstBuild’s Arden Indoor Pellet Smoker and Indiegogo **
** Thanks toDavid Brand, the brilliant author of Testing Business Ideas , for spotting this and sharing it on Twitter. **
[ ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#)
[ FirstBuild ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#) , owned by GE Appliances (a Haier company), is testing demand for an indoor BBQ smoker using [ I ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#) [ ndiegogo ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#) . It is a YouTube pretotype, best used for products that are complex or a big investment to bring to market. In this case, they have built something, but I suspect the video and results are simulated to test product demand — a perfectly valid strategy.
* Want your in the wildfeatured next month (and an Amazon gift card to boot)? *[* Hop on over to our Slack channel! *](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#)* *
** What’s working well? What could be better? **
The branding on this is not prominent, and I like that. Too often, we believe that branding is our competitive advantage when testing products. It’s not — it just helps you scale. What they’re testing here is problem-solution fit, asking: a) does anyone care? And b) are we solving a problem well enough for anyone to show interestin our product?
** What are the takeaways? **
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If you have a complex product or service idea, the [ YouTube pretotype ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#) is an effective way to simulate the end product and test demand from customers. -
Start small — you probably don’t have a GE sized budget, so place the pretotype in a channel that makes sense. Ask yourself: where would your potential early adopters be looking for a solution to the problem you’re solving? Go there. -
Don’t ask for money immediately. You’ll notice in this pretotype they don’t give an indication of price. For starters, get emails.
** ** In the field ** Want to start experimenting in your business,but you’re not sure where to start? Then let’s find out... **
[ ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#)
** ** One thing Lastly, here's a great quote from [ James Clear ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#) to take you into the week ahead.
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Until next month, happy innovating!
** ** ** Leslie ** ** **
** Can't get enough of innovation? **
** ** ** There's plenty more where this came from... ** ** **
** ** ** Join our pretotyping Slack community ** Our community is full of innovators from around the world – [ join us ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#) to ask questions, share ideas, and learn from the best.
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** Learn pretotyping – online! **
As we start looking towards the year ahead, there's no better time to become a Certified Pretotyper and raise your innovation game. The first module is yours, completely free – [ sign up here ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#) today!
[ ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#) Pretotyping vs. Prototyping When discussing the concept of pretotyping with someone new, we often get asked the question: "Wait... don't you mean 'prototyping'?" We get that it can be confusing, and so we'd like to clear it up. [ Read more ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#) .
[ ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#)
[ ](https://www.exponentially.com/blog/making-bbq-better#)
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