Startup Virginia’s Idea Factory is an entrepreneurial discovery program focused on market validation and customer insight. Developed to strengthen Virginia’s startup ecosystem, the program provides founders with structured research tools, expert mentorship, and hands-on methods for testing assumptions. Its purpose is to help early-stage innovators identify real user needs and build ventures grounded in evidence.
While early ideas for Codex Studio showed strong potential, the concept needed real-world validation to determine whether the problems it aimed to solve were felt deeply enough by actual users. The goal was to move beyond assumptions and uncover clear, evidence-based insights that could guide the direction of the product.
Conduct qualitative interviews, distribute targeted surveys, and analyze patterns across multiple user groups to identify shared pain points and unmet needs. This research-first approach helped reveal what users valued most and established a grounded foundation for defining Codex Studio’s early product direction.
Validated market demand across museums, educators, and 3D creators, confirming that users struggled with fragmented 3D workflows and lacked accessible tools. The findings clarified Codex Studio’s value proposition, refined its core features, and provided a strategic roadmap supported by real user data.
Early discovery work centered on understanding the real challenges faced by museums, educators, and 3D creators. Through interviews, surveys, and opportunity-mapping exercises, Jacob gathered insights into how users capture, process, and share 3D content.
This research highlighted consistent pain points around workflow complexity, lack of clear guidance, and the need for more accessible tools. These findings served as the foundation for shaping Codex Studio’s direction and defining what users truly needed from the platform.
After completing the first round of interviews, each session was captured and transcribed through Otter.ai. The summaries were reviewed and synthesized with the help of ChatGPT, allowing me to quickly spot shared pain points, motivations, and workflow challenges across participants.
This structured approach turned qualitative insights into a focused set of opportunity areas. These opportunities became the basis for the next stage of validation, where a follow-up survey quantified desire, experience, and market potential.
Upon completing the Idea Factory program, I was selected to present my findings during the final showcase, where I shared the insights uncovered through interviews, surveys, and user discovery. The research produced clear validation metrics, including over 180 contacts, 112 opportunities, 13 interviews, and 34 survey responses.
In addition to the research milestones, I delivered a full MVE site, a complete case study, and a draft white paper summarizing the early direction of Codex Studio. These outcomes helped refine the venture and establish a solid foundation for next steps.
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