Tips for Validating Startup Ideas with Market Research

I've spent 12 months ruthlessly testing AI tools for market research at Impact Theory. What did we learn? We identified market opportunities 6 months before competitors. We 10X'd our research capabilities. We turned market analysis from guesswork into science. But most people get AI market research completely wrong. They're passive. They wait for the perfect prompt. They expect AI to do the work. Those who are killing it with AI take a different approach. I use what I call the "Market Intelligence System": Step 1: Problem Verification Use this prompt: "List the top 5 urgent and painful problems faced by [your target market] with supporting evidence from Reddit, Amazon, Facebook, or other real sources." Step 2: Competitive Gap Analysis "Identify primary competitors and evaluate their strengths, weaknesses. Highlight clear opportunities to meaningfully differentiate my product." Step 3: Market Demand Assessment "Assess current market size and potential for growth. Evaluate key trends indicating increasing or declining demand with evidence from search volumes, surveys, industry data." Step 4: Pricing Intelligence "Suggest realistic pricing strategies and benchmarks. Analyze customer willingness to pay based on real data." Step 5: Validation Framework "Recommend actionable validation experiments to verify all base assumptions. List early warning signs of potential product-market misfit." The nuclear question: "What do people who disagree with these trends say? What are their best arguments?" This process takes me from zero market knowledge to expert-level intelligence in hours, not months. In a world where everyone has access to data, the advantage goes to those who know exactly how to extract insights from it. Most are drowning in information. Be the one who turns data into decisions. I built a free GPT that walks you through the whole process in 30 minutes. It will give you a step-by-step roadmap to launch your business. Try it out here: https://buff.ly/WQHxGFU

Day 2 of using #Reddit for b2b SaaS. => Market Research + a pro tip to put this on autopilot. . . Here's how you can use Reddit for market research of your next idea. 1. Identify Relevant Subreddits: There is a subreddit for everything. start by finding one in your niche. 2. Observe and Engage: Go through the rules of the subreddit, extremely important. If you are new to Reddit, start by posting comments on existing posts. Look for the patterns in the challenges people are facing. Engage in conversations. 3. Search for Pain Points: Use the search function to find specific discussions related to common challenges. 4. Gather Feedback on Competitors: Pay attention to what users are saying about your competitors. What do they like? What do they wish was different? When I started, I loved reaching out to these people in private messages and inviting them for a discovery call. 5. Validate Product Ideas: If you have a product idea or feature in mind, search for relevant discussions to see if others are looking for something similar. You can even create a post to ask for feedback directly, but make sure to follow the subreddit’s rules regarding self-promotion. Since most users create anonymous profiles on Reddit, it's easier to get critical feedback about anything. They are very vocal about your competition and easy for you to find pain points worth solving. Here's the pro tip. If you have some keywords that you need to search for, use a tool like Syften with Reddit. Syften puts a watch on the keywords of your choice on specific subreddits. So next time anyone mentions them, you get an email/ slack notification immediately and you can participate in the conversation. I found this technique super useful for me personally. Let me know which one of these ideas you like the best in the comments. #B2B #SaaS #MarketResearch #Reddit

Thinking about starting a company? Have you identified a problem to tackle? Are you wondering if you’ve zeroed in on a problem that’s worth solving? Here is a five-point framework that Mohit Aron (co-founder of Nutanix, Cohesity) describes in #B2BaCEO to pressure-test your idea. Ask yourself if your idea: 1. Solves a real problem that customers will pay for. Your initial product (what Mohit calls the “entry point”) must address a clear pain point for which customers will actually hand over money. If you're not certain they’ll pay for a solution, you need to keep digging in your discovery conversations. 2. Targets a large enough market ($5B+ TAM). For venture-backed startups, the entry point should unlock a total addressable market of at least $5 billion. Even if you’re starting narrow, you need the potential for that scale to have a shot at a truly meaningful outcome. 3. Paves a path to a larger vision. The entry point is just that—a starting point. You need a credible vision for how this initial wedge can expand into a much broader market opportunity over time. The best startups use their entry point as a beachhead to establish credibility and momentum, then leverage that to tackle larger and more lucrative adjacent problems. 4. Rides market tailwinds. Powerful secular trends should be converging to make your problem more urgent over time, not less. As you assess different problem areas, ask yourself: will customers care more about this issue in 10 years, or less? You want to skate to where the puck is going, not where it's been. 5. Offers a clear “insertion point” for adoption. No matter how brilliant your solution, it must plug seamlessly into customers’ existing workflows and tech stacks. Aim to identify what Mohit calls an “insertion point”: a way to slip into the customer’s environment and start delivering value with as little friction or change management as possible. Listen to https://lnkd.in/gi9Xzett to learn more about how Mohit Aron pressure-tests every potential startup idea before writing a single line of code. And if you think you have a winner on your hands, contact Jaya Gupta, Lauri J. Moore, Ashu Garg or any of the enterprise partners at Foundation Capital

The biggest mistake I made building my first startup was falling in love with my own idea. It cost me $10K and 1.5 years. Here's how to avoid building something nobody wants to pay for 👇 My co-founder and I spent 1.5 years and $15K of our own money building a job review platform for minorities. Our goal was to create a Glassdoor for us. At the time, I thought that this was something that just had to exist. If we build it, they'll come. Wrong. After 1.5 years, we had to face reality: - 1 paying customer - $400 MRR - 1500 job-seekers but 0 willing to pay Neither businesses nor job-seekers would PAY for our platform. They appreciated it, but no one would open their checkbook. Then something unexpected happened. A friend reached out asking if we could help with their ERGs. They had $35K to spend - almost 10x more than we'd ever made working on the job review platform. We pivoted, and within a month of launching as Chezie, we had a 5-figure contract. If I were to start a new company, here's how I'd approach building product: 1. Start with customer pain Talk to 20+ potential customers. My favorite questions to ask: • How are you solving that problem today? • Have you looked for a better solution recently? 2. Validate willingness to pay by SELLING (Most important) Here's what I learned after 300+ customer calls: "I love this idea" = worthless "When can I buy?" = close, but we can do better "Here's my credit card" = validation You have to ask people to pay for your solution. That’s the only validation that matters. Best case? They buy on the spot. Worst case? They end the call and block you. Either way, you get feedback that helps you understand if you're on the right path. You have to ask people to pay for it early. Words are nice, but a Stripe payment is much better. (Check out Rob Snyder's content for how to find demand by selling) --- Don't make the same mistake I did. Focus on learning about your customers first. Building the product becomes way easier when you know exactly what pain you're solving and how much people will pay to fix it. How do you think about building product? P.S. - Want the exact framework I use to validate ideas by selling? I wrote about it in my Equity Shift newsletter. Click "Visit my store" at the top of this post to subscribe for free and read the full guide 🤝🏾

Why most entrepreneurs FAIL in the first 12 months. A lot of people waste time & money on business ideas that nobody WANTS. And it's easy to see why: "You're the next big thing" 🤝 "I'll definitely buy that" => Too many positive affirmations and flattery. But the truth is: You're not the next big thing. Not yet. And nobody will buy that idea until it's in front of them. The solution? → Validate your idea before building it Here's how: 1. Define your audience → avoid targeting "everyone". 2. Ask the right questions → no vague questions allowed. 3. Analyze responses → find the patterns → make data-driven decisions. Here's a sample template: 1. Define your audience: - Who are they? - How old are they? - What's their biggest problem? - Where do they hang out online? 2. Ask the right questions: - What's the biggest question you have about ___? - What's your biggest fear regarding ___? - What have you tried before to solve ___? - What would make a product/service perfect for ___? 3. Analyze responses: - What's the biggest problem they're facing? - What are their biggest complaints about existing solutions? - What would be their dream product/service? - What's the biggest challenge they would face with your solution? Spend time listening to your audience. You'll be surprised by how much you can learn. Good luck!

💡 𝟰 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮 Optimism is the first asset you’ll need as an entrepreneur. And in the early stages, it’s normal to feel extremely optimistic about future success. But according to Wilbur Labs, 27% of startups fail because they built something the market didn’t buy. How can you avoid being misled by your biases and stay ahead of the curve ❓ You will have to test your assumptions through 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ✅ A good market validation process will tell you if your target market is willing to pay for your product or service (maybe even how much 💲) ❌ A bad market validation process is filled with vanity metrics and false positives  Here are 4 ways to successfully validate your startup idea against the market 👇      → Waitlists Set up a landing page for sign-ups and promote for early access. Once you’re ready to launch, you’ll have an existing customer base to reach out to. → Customer Development  Engage with potential customers for feedback. Once you identify your target audience, prepare questions and conduct interviews to gather as much feedback as you can. → Wizard of Oz Gather customer feedback and market demand through a mockup of your product. No need to wait for full development to gather customer insights. → Pre-sales  Try selling your product or service before it’s fully developed. Set up an attractive landing page and offer pre-sales to measure market demand. Founders, how have you validated your market? Use any strategies not mentioned above? Drop them in a comment below! Ready for more founder insights?  Follow The Pitch podcast to learn from the best startup founders and VCs in the world 👉 https://www.thepitch.show #startups #entrepreneurs #venturecapital #marketing

Dear Startup founders, PLEASE validate your product idea before extensive development! A landing page is essential for this, serving as a strategic tool to test market interest and gather early feedback. AI tools can now help you build this in minutes! Here’s a streamlined approach to why and how. Why a Landing Page is Crucial: 🎯Concept Validation: Quickly gauge whether your idea has potential appeal. Market Demand Analysis: Assess actual interest through visitor interactions and lead captures. 🎯Product Refinement: Use early feedback to fine-tune your product offering. Community Building: Start gathering a group of interested early adopters. 🎯Cost-Effectiveness: A landing page is a low-cost approach compared to full product development. Building an Effective Landing Page- Best Practices: ➡️Create a headline that clearly states your unique value. ➡️Use engaging visuals and concise content to explain your product. ➡️Include a strong call-to-action for updates or interest. ➡️Implement a lead capture form for valuable customer insights. ➡️Add testimonials for credibility and FAQs for information. ➡️Ensure mobile responsiveness and quick loading times. ➡️Optimize for SEO and integrate social media sharing options. ➡️Utilize analytics for visitor insights and conduct A/B testing for optimization. Use AI Landing Page Builders: For startups looking to quickly and effectively set up a landing page, AI-powered website builders are a game changer. Leverage AI website builders for rapid, effective landing page creation. Here are just a few examples: Mixo: Instant website creation with AI. Unbounce: AI-driven design with comprehensive marketing features. Landingfolio: Inspiration gallery and customizable templates. Sitekick.ai: Automated page generation with customization options. Plai.io: Complete landing page generation and ad campaign management. This list is not exhaustive. Do you have a favorite? Please do share! A well-designed landing page is a foundational step for startups to validate their product and kickstart their journey to market. AI tools can significantly streamline this process. #productmanagement #PM #Productledgroth #PLG #Startups #Founders #Growth

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at Yale School of Management on validating startup ideas. New concepts easier than ever to prototype and research before making a big investment, so for most ideas there's no reason to sink 💰💰💰 into building a product without validation. Here are some of the tools and techniques I covered: 1. Email. It's been around forever, it's ubiquitous, and it's incredibly powerful. Even after ~30 years, email is still the strongest and most under-appreciated marketing tool out there, and many products start out as email newsletters - just look at what we're doing over at Thesis Driven! 2. Services. Even if you don't want to be in the services business long-term, doing paid work for prospective clients is a great way to learn about an industry and validate a concept. Don't be afraid of making money! 3. Events. Want to start a niche job board but don't know where to start? Host a job fair! Virtual or in-person, events can be a great way to validate a new concept and get live feedback on your idea. 4. Strategic Partnerships. Building your product for a specific client or partner is a great way to ensure you're addressing a real need - and often getting paid for it. But be careful you don't lock yourself into an exclusive relationship or give your pilot client too much power. 5. No-code tools. No-code tools have proliferated and improved dramatically over the past year. I'm personally a fan of Bubble; it's easy to use and very powerful. In fact, the Thesis Driven Developer Database is a Bubble app! 6. Social Media. YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and TikTok all provide unique opportunities to build audiences and validate ideas before And the most important point: Mix and match! None of these methods are meant to be used standalone - the real power comes from combining them to create compounding feedback loops and build monetizable audiences. Big thank you to Jennifer McFadden for hosting me at Yale SOM this week! (She said my slides were the ugliest she's ever seen, which is high praise!)

A few of my favorite stories of how founders validated their startup ideas: 1. After 6 ideas that didn't work out, Rujul Zaparde and Lu Cheng created a 16-point checklist for what a great startup idea needs to hit. [See checklist below] "We were very honest with ourselves. We worked on a bunch of terrible ideas before, and if there’s anything we had learned, it’s that today will be the easiest day to kill the idea and do something better. It’ll always be harder tomorrow. We ended up doing 75+ interviews with CFOs, heads of procurement, and heads of finance. It really helped refine the idea. We had 110 pages of notes from 3 weeks of chats. Turns out the response rate is pretty good on LinkedIn when you just want advice. We would be like, ‘All right, we had these three ideas. These two suck, but maybe we should tweak this idea because of what these two or three people said.’ And so we’d keep honing it down, honing it down, honing it down, iterating every day." 2. When validating the idea behind Gusto, Tomer London and his co-founders talked to *everyone* about their payroll challenges. "We had a list of 30 people we knew one way or another—some from Stanford, some from other networks—and I asked them for the names of friends who had small businesses. And for every call we did, we asked them, ‘Who are your friends who have small businesses?’ I literally was calling people out of Yelp. The thing I was looking for in retrospect is an emotional reaction. When you talk with a customer and they say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s cool.’ You say, ‘Would you buy it?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I may buy it.’ That’s not the feedback you’re after. That basically means that, no, they’re not going to buy it. They’re just being nice. What you’re looking for is really really deep emotion. The moment we asked them ‘What do you feel about your current payroll provider?’ they started cursing, literally. More than half of people just started cursing and being really upset. That's when you know you have something." 3. When exploring the idea behind Ramp, Eric Glyman and his co-founders manually created savings reports for founders, to see if they'd find them useful. "We came at it with this theory of: We’re experts in savings, and we’re really interested in this idea of a credit card that would save your business money. We think we can save you money, but we want to prove it to you. So we did these things we called ‘Savings reports,’ where we would ask founders for the last 90 days of their credit card purchases or ACHs and—manually, but they didn’t know it was manual—come back to them with ideas to save their business money. One of the early aha moments there was a company that was legitimately spending money on seven different project management tools. They were growing so fast that they had forgotten to cancel the subscriptions. We came back and were like, ‘There’s $200,000 in savings." For more ➔ https://lnkd.in/gtjRAxsJ