Before you start coming at me, hear me out. I have founded and sold an AI startup (Jini) and have another saas (buzzgeniusai.com) doing $15K mrr. I have also been a part of famous startup accelerators where they teach you this concept of "talk to 100 customers to first" and "validate your idea before building". Even YC preaches this but guess what, most companies fail after doing that too.
No one knows whether what you build will be what people want, not even they themselves. Imagine if the guys at Facebook, Apple and OpenAI had tried to "validate" their ideas.
Just build something that you really want. Both of my products which did well were something that I needed. First was an AI therapist because I needed some counselling. Second was a marketing tool because I struggled with marketing/getting more customers as an entrepreneur. Both of these tools were running locally for my use weeks before I "productized" them.
Be your own customer. Just build something that you want.
Don’t make something you think people will want. Build something for yourself
byu/Single-Nectarine4693 inEntrepreneur
Posted by Single-Nectarine4693
5 Comments
IMHO we should start from the point of building something that we want for sure, but then manoeuver the product and messaging as we receive user feedback.
I can agree with this.
Imagine being your first user, first customer, and first case study?
I spent 6 months learning how to create viral content. Once I did, and integrated the process, which I use daily, I’m now in a much better position to help others.
Same goes for any product. You should love it so much you fill up the DAU/WAU charts with false data. You’ll have a much better time convincing others of what you love, than needing to make a sale!
I’m genuinely intrigued, how do you strike a balance between following your instincts and staying open to feedback and market demand?
I really like the approach, but for non-technical aspiring start-up founders like me it would be really difficult to apply… Imaging not having the tools to develop software yourself, you would need at least to be able to design a product and validate the idea somehow to then go to the world with something of value in your hands and try find a tech co-founder to walk the way with you… and yet, it will be very difficult to find one!
Why not both, you should build something that fulfills you but aim to solve a problem for other people. You’re more likely to succeed as opposed to just fulfilling your needs or developing something that someone else wants.