What are the strongest signals that validate an idea and show that the product is worth building?
When you build many products based only on a feeling, you eventually realise that the majority of them won’t work.
Sometimes it’s because the distribution wasn’t good enough. Other times, the product itself wasn’t good, or people simply didn’t need it.
Since I’ve already launched many things that failed, 😀 I now try to understand before building whether an idea is worth investing my time into.
For example, in my case, a tool that helps prevent LinkedIn bans...
Here are some signals I look at:
The problem happened to me first.
I became my own potential user, which is usually a strong starting point.I ask people on Product Hunt.
You can see more patterns, learn from people with more experience, and get feedback not only on the idea but also on distribution.I check the search demand.
I use tools like Google Trends or AnswerThePublic to see whether people are actively searching for the problem.
For example, searches for “LinkedIn ban” increased by 1,950% in the last month, and “LinkedIn restriction” by 3,800%.I search social media for keywords and discussions.
I look for people talking about the problem and check whether there is frustration.
For example, on TikTok, I found dozens of creators complaining about LinkedIn restrictions, asking for explanations, and looking for solutions. The comments showed that many others had the same issue.Waitlist or paywall.
If the product is already usable, the strongest validation is whether people are willing to sign up or pay.
How else do you validate your product ideas before building?
Replies
Scarlett.
That’s a very valid question., Nika!
Personally, I don’t think validation needs to be overcomplicated. The best approach is usually to ship an MVP immediately... ideally within 3 to 10 days. (unless it's something massive. Here I talk about simple tools/products). Then put it in front of the most relevant audience and see what happens.
Two friends built a local app that lets drivers notify another driver when there is a problem with their car. They reached 15,000 users in around 10 days without doing anything particularly sophisticated. They simply contacted admins of large automotive Facebook groups, and the admins shared the app with their communities.
If people start using and sharing a very basic version, that is probably one of the strongest signals that the idea is worth developing further.
Love this one! My favorite signal: people who've already rigged up their own workaround (a spreadsheet, a Notes doc). Nobody bothers doing that for a problem they don't actually have.
That's kind of how my own thing started tbh. I was journaling a lot and just wanted something that could read it back and show me stuff I wasn't noticing. Nothing really did, so I ended up building it for myself first. Turns out being your own annoyed user is pretty good validation.
Waitlist sign-ups I trust way less though. A "notify me" click is easy. Someone actually coming back a week later on their own? That's the one that means something.
for me the clearest signal is when people are already workarounding the problem. not just complaining about it, but hacking together janky solutions with tools that weren't built for it. that means the pain is real enough to act on, just nothing good exists yet. with AgentGovern.ai i kept seeing teams using spreadsheets and Slack approvals to track what their AI agents did. that was enough. if people are duct-taping a solution together, the market's there, you just have to build the real version.