Please remember: Product Hunt, Indie Hackers, Makerlog, etc. are echo chambers

Hello everyone, I am reading The Mom Test as was suggested by Sergio from Makerlog and many other people. The book is harsh sometimes but it is better to know for sure than invest because people say "Oh you are doing awesome". With that in mind, I wanted to share this gentle reminder that all of us here in networks like PH, IH, ML, YC Startup School, Pioneer, etc. are Founders. We want to cheer each other up, encourage each other. We get excited to see a new product. We Founders are inherently biased. If we were not so bullish about finding "great problems to tackle" we would not be here. That set of characteristics that make us Founders also make us poor judge of another Founder's product as a Consumer. Consumers are harsh and they DO NOT CARE about our journey as a Founder. Read the first 3 years of any Founder's journey and you will know that this is the only truth. I have read countless stories on Indie Hackers and the message is really loud and clear. Unless of course if you are selling to Founders on these networks. Even then, upvotes are not equal to real problem validation. We want each other to succeed but please do not take that support as a sign that we relate to your problem statement. So please keep inspiring and cheering each other, we all need the support. But at the same time keep in mind that you need to go to the real customer, talk to them, find their problems. And till we get real revenue, we have only a hypothesis (maybe an MVP) but not a Business. Cheers, Sumit Datta

Replies

Vaibhav is SelfTalk.ing
Ah, this is an interesting take. I like how you just spit the truth that trying to sell on PH, IH, or similar platforms is like telling other founders about it which might not be your audience. This kinda makes me actually read that book because I have heard a lot about it.
Sumit Datta [dwata] 👋
@realdesigntack For me these platforms are really really important because I am a solo founder, nomadic by choice living far away from family. So I need the support, but I realized that I can not take the "cheers" as "potential sale". That would be a blunder.
Vaibhav is SelfTalk.ing
@sumitdatta I understand and you are right. This is a very integral point.