How to Validate Market Demand

When I was 14, I sold a product that wasn't real. On purpose. I wanted to start a mail-order business selling fly-tying materials to fishermen. But I had no idea if anyone would actually buy. So I placed an £8 advert in Trout & Salmon magazine: "Send for my catalogue." The problem was, I hadn't printed the catalogue yet. I hadn't even bought any stock. When 25 people responded, I told them we had "sold out" and they were out of print. Then I scrambled to put one together. That £8 test told me everything I needed to know. There was demand and the business was viable. I went on to turn over £1,500 in the first year, with £356 profit. That felt good for a teenager with a £100 loan from his mum. Here's what I learned about validation: ➡️ Test before you invest The biggest mistake founders make is building before they validate.  They spend months (sometimes years) perfecting a product nobody wants. ➡️ Make your test affordable £8 bought me the answer to a £10,000 question.  You don't need venture capital to test an idea.  You need creativity and nerve. ➡️ Make your test fast I had my answer in a week. That's how I discovered that speed matters.  The longer you wait to test, the more attached you become to an idea that might not work. ➡️ Let the market decide I didn't ask friends what they thought.  I didn't run focus groups.  I put real money on the line and saw the results. ➡️ Copy what works, then improve it I didn't invent fly-tying materials.  I just found a better way to sell them.  Take what's already working and find a way to execute it better. It's about getting it 80% right, then letting your customers show you the rest. The software industry worked this out years ago.  They release version 1.0 knowing it's not perfect. Then they improve based on real feedback. You can do the same, whatever your business is. A simple test you can run this week: Before you invest a large amount of money, run the smallest possible test that proves demand. - A classified advert like I did. - 10 conversations with potential customers. - A prototype made from cardboard and duct tape. Whatever proves people will actually pay for what you're planning to build. Because the market will always tell you the truth if you're willing to ask. If you're currently testing a business idea,  I'd like to hear how you're validating demand before you build. 

I have been meeting a lot of new founders every day. So I figured I would share my 2 cents in short content for a couple of days. Here goes the first one. How to Validate Your Startup Idea — Without Building an MVP Most founders make one mistake that costs them months of effort and thousands of dollars: They built first. And validate later. That’s exactly why so many early-stage startups burn money, time, and confidence before understanding whether anyone even wants their product. After working with /talking to 400+ founders across Bangladesh, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, here’s the exact validation framework I learned —a method that has helped teams test ideas for less than $50. 🔹 Step 1: Talk to 20 Real Users Not your friends. Not your investors. Not people who will “support you no matter what.” Talk to people who feel the pain TODAY. Real conversations reveal real problems — not assumptions. 🔹 Step 2: Ask Only 3 High-Impact Questions These are the only questions you need to find product–market fit signals early: What are you doing to solve this problem right now? What frustrates you the most in that process? What would a perfect solution look like to you? These three questions alone have shaped solutions for 400+ startups we’ve worked with in the past decade. 🔹 Step 3: Build a “Mock Solution” — Not an MVP Founders often think validation requires a full product. It doesn’t. Your mock solution can be as simple as: A one-page Google Doc A Figma screen A WhatsApp flow A clickable prototype If users don’t understand your mock solution, they won’t understand your MVP either. 🔹 Step 4: Pre-Sell the Idea This is where real validation happens. 👉 If nobody is willing to commit in advance → the idea is weak. 👉 If 5–10 people say “Yes, I want this” → you have a winner. Pre-selling is the clearest signal of demand because people don’t lie with their wallets. This is exactly how we validated multiple products across Asia without writing a single line of code — or spending more than $50. Build later. Validate first. Your future self (and your bank account) will thank you. Do you validate before building — or build before validating?

If there’s one thing this product management journey has taught me, it’s this: People fear the big PM terms… even when the actual work is simple. Earlier this week, a mentee asked me: “Blessing, how do I validate an idea?” But before I could respond, she listed a whole paragraph of complicated steps she thought she had to follow. I smiled and told her: “You already know what to do…you’re just letting the terminology intimidate you.” Because idea validation isn’t hard. It only sounds hard. Here’s the simplest way to validate an idea: 1. Talk to the people you want to build for Ask real, human questions: → What problem are you facing right now? → How are you currently solving it? → What frustrates you about existing solutions? → Would you pay for something better? 2. Check if the problem is big enough If only 2 out of 20 people feel the pain… it may not be worth building yet. 3. Test interest quickly Create something small: → a landing page → a waitlist → a prototype If no one clicks, signs up, or cares… that’s still data. 4. Validate willingness to pay Most people stop before this part…but it’s the most important. Ask directly: “If I built this, would you pay for it?” The truth is in their wallet, not their words. 5. Don’t overthink the terminology You don’t need a 20-page document. You need clarity: → Is there a real problem? → Is it painful enough? → Do people want a solution? → Will they pay for it? That’s validation. Not the big terms. Just the truth. P.S. Which part of validation do you find hardest, talking to users, testing interest, or asking about payment? © #TheGlobalPM💟

Don’t Build the Product Yet—Validate It First! Let me say this with love: You don’t need another brilliant idea. You need to know if people will actually buy it. And trust me—validation doesn’t mean running ads or building the whole thing in Canva or Notion. Here’s a lesson I learned (and now teach my clients): Build with demand, not just excitement. Because excitement fades. But data-driven demand? That fuels real sales. STORYTIME: I once helped someone with research who spent 3 weeks building a beautiful 80-page eBook on dentistry. Fonts? Perfect. Design? Chef’s kiss. Topic? Excellent. But guess what? It didn’t sell. Not because it wasn’t valuable, but because it wasn’t validated. No one had ever asked for it. No one had proven interest in that exact angle. So it sat there—beautiful and untouched. So here’s how to VALIDATE first—without wasting time or money 1. Start With a Poll or Post Talk about the problem your product will solve. Ask: “If I created a [checklist/toolkit/template] that helped you with [problem], would you want it?” Engagement = signal. Crickets = revise your angle. 2. Offer a Mini Version Think “Minimum Viable Product.” Don’t build the entire course or guide—offer a free live class, a 1-pager, or even a paid beta version. Let real interest shape the final product. 3. Pre-Sell It Say: “Launching something for 5 people only. You’ll get access + lifetime updates. Want in?” When people pay before you even finish it—congrats. That’s your proof. 4. Use the Data Track: - What DMs people send - What polls perform - What language they use - What they save, comment, or share - You’re not guessing—you’re building based on facts. Validation is the difference between selling and struggling. Don’t let fear of “not being ready” stop you from asking the market what it really wants. Because sometimes, your best-seller isn’t the prettiest—it’s just the most needed. You in? Let’s validate before we create. #DigitalProducts #MonetizeYourSkills #365DaysConsistencyChallengeWithFortuna #LeadGeneration

Test your idea before you build I've watched countless founders pour money into ideas that looked perfect on paper. Last year alone, I saw 12 startups fail not because they built bad products but because they built something nobody wanted badly enough. 72% of new products fail because they don't solve a real market need (Harvard Business Review Study, 2022). Simple idea validation could have saved these companies. One founder I worked with spent $200,000 building a "perfect" app for freelancers. After launch? 10 Users. Another spent just $500 on testing - running ads to a landing page, talking to 50 potential users, and creating a basic waitlist. She found her target market was willing to pay double what she planned to charge. Before you write a single line of code: → Talk to 30+ potential customers about their problems, not your solution → Create a simple landing page explaining your idea → Run small ad tests to see if people click → Build a waiting list and see if people actually join → Ask people to put down a small deposit for early access The best validation? When someone tries to give you money for a product that doesn't exist yet. I've seen founders skip validation because "nobody else is doing this" or "I know my industry." Those are usually the ones who end up shutting down 18 months later. Your idea might be brilliant. But wouldn't you rather find out if people will pay for it before spending a year building it? Share your thoughts - how did you validate your startup idea? #StartupAdvice #Entrepreneurship #ProductDevelopment

Imagine spending months building a product, only to hear crickets at launch. 😱 Before coding, ask yourself: “𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?” I once stopped a founder who wanted us to develop his product from diving into development too soon: “𝘎𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵.” So, instead of us jumping directly into coding, He tested the idea with a 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 & 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 and discovered critical tweaks that saved months of effort. 🔥 𝟲 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗩𝗣 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆: ✅ 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 - Skip assumptions. Five real conversations reveal more than weeks of guesswork. ✅ 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 – Create a simple page & see if people sign up. Buffer’s founder validated demand this way! ✅ 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 – Show value before building. Dropbox’s MVP was just a 3-min video—75K signups followed! ✅ “𝗪𝗶𝘇𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝘇” 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 – Manually deliver the service while users think it’s automated. If they love it, build later. ✅ 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝘆 – Pre-orders, deposits, or dummy “Buy Now” buttons reveal real demand. ✅ 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 & 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 – If people actively seek solutions but remain unsatisfied, you’ve found a gap. 🎯 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲: Set a validation benchmark. Example: “20%+ 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯-𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦 = 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥.” 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 – 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗩𝗣 𝘂𝗽𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁?  Share your best hacks! Your tip could save someone from building something nobody wants. 💡🚀

When you’ve got a big idea, the hardest question isn’t how to build it. It’s: “Will anyone actually want this?” For non-technical founders, it’s easy to get stuck here. Do you need a prototype? A landing page? Or go straight to an MVP? Here’s a simple way to frame it: • Landing Page → Quickest way to test interest. Share your idea, add a call-to-action, and see if people sign up. • Prototype → Great for showing how the product would work. Perfect for pitching investors, advisors, or early users. • MVP → A slimmed-down version of the product that tests whether people will actually use it in real life. 👉 Examples from billion-dollar startups: • Dropbox → validated demand with just a demo video, no code. • Airbnb → tested demand with a simple website renting out their own apartment. • Uber → started as a one-city, one-ride-type app. • Instagram → grew by focusing only on photo sharing after stripping other features. • Twitter (now X) → began as an internal tool, then took off when showcased at SXSW. Think of it as stepping stones: 1. Landing page = do they care? 2. Prototype = do they get it? 3. MVP = will they stick with it? Validation doesn’t have to feel like gambling with your savings. The right tool gives you clarity, confidence, and proof that you’re solving a problem people are willing to pay for. #NonTechnicalFounders #Startups #SaaS #MVP #Prototyping #ProductValidation

Most pitch decks describe a market. Very few prove one exists. That's the difference between a deck that gets meetings and one that gets filed away. Investors need to see evidence that real customers care - before you scale, before you raise, before you have all the answers. Here's what actually moves the needle: → Paying customers or early revenue - even small → Signed LOIs - not "we had a good call," an actual doc → Named pilot partners - real companies, real KPIs → Waitlist or signup data - with conversion rates → Customer interviews - 20 to 50 of them, with clear repeated patterns One of our clients, RockED, validated their product by linking learning activity directly to dealership KPIs - F&I rates, repair orders, CSI scores. Named testimonials from real staff at real companies. That's not a market size claim. That's proof. Another client led with a state-level government contract covering 350+ municipalities. Government procurement is the hardest validation to fake - and investors know it. The best validation slide answers one question clearly: Do customers actually want this? If the answer is obvious from the slide - you move forward. If investors have to ask - you've already lost momentum. We wrote a full breakdown of how to structure this slide, what types of validation investors trust most, and the mistakes that quietly kill credibility. Link in the comments 👇

For every company I've launched, I've killed four before they saw the light of day. Most of those kills happened early, before I spent serious money or asked someone to stake their career on the idea. This is the six-step process I follow before committing to any new company, and it's the reason the ones I DO launch have a real shot at succeeding. Step one: spend time listening before you start building. I consume a lot of the same content that marketing decision-makers consume. I go to trade shows, participate in operator forums, have one-on-ones with founders, listen to podcasts, and read newsletters. I'm essentially doing my own version of social listening across the places where practitioners actually talk to each other. The goal is to feel when something is about to get really hot before the broader market has noticed it. Step two: make sure the economics make sense. I want to know that clients will pay at least $6,000 a month for whatever I'm building, and ideally significantly more. If the realistic ceiling is $2,000 a month, I'm not interested, even if it's a genuinely useful service. There's no point validating demand for something that can never be profitable at scale. Step three: confirm the market is large enough. The addressable market needs to be at least 10,000 to 20,000 companies, and ideally much larger. Without that kind of volume, there simply aren't enough potential clients to run outbound at the scale this model requires. Step four: understand the competitive landscape honestly. I use the deep research mode in ChatGPT to build a comprehensive picture of the competitive stack, typically a 40 to 50 page document that pulls heavily from founder interviews on YouTube and podcasts, because that's where you get the most unguarded version of what competitors have actually built. The most important thing is to resist seeing what you want to see. No competitors is not automatically a good sign, and a crowded market is not automatically a bad one. Step five: validate the concept via the painted door test. I create a lightweight version of the company, including a codename, a basic website, and a clear offer. Then I run cold email outreach at scale, typically around 50,000 emails over 6 weeks, testing multiple versions of the offer across a 12-email sequence. The response rate tells me whether the concept has real legs. Step six: validate demand through one-on-one conversations. Once I have a clear concept, I go to people in my network and ask one specific question. Not "would you buy this?" because that invites a polite, hypothetical answer. Instead I ask: "When we launch, will you be a customer?" Most people are too polite to tell you something is a bad idea outright, so they will either say yes with real conviction or they will hedge. Either way, you walk away knowing exactly where you stand. Now, this framework doesn't guarantee success. But it's saved me from a lot of expensive mistakes.

$4.2 billion down the drain. That's what founders waste yearly building products nobody wants. I've seen this movie before: technical founders burn through $50K and 6 months of runway on unvalidated ideas. Y Combinator's 3-day validation system changes the game: Most founders miss this entirely. They obsess over products and tech, skipping the critical validation step. They build in isolation, burn cash at alarming rates, then launch to silence. Elite operators take a different approach. YC startups consistently outperform because they validate first. Their 3-day system predicts market fit with 85% accuracy — no guesswork, just execution. Day 1: Hunt for real problems. Average founders ask useless questions like "Do you like this idea?" — pure vanity metrics. Elite founders focus on problems that meet three requirements: they must be monetizable (people will pay), intense (cause real pain), and frequent (happen regularly). The question that separates amateurs from pros: "Walk me through the last time you encountered this problem." This reveals actual behavior — not what people think they might do. The problem isn't real enough to build for if they can't describe a specific instance. Day 2: Test hypotheses, not products. The principle is simple — build the minimum necessary to validate your core assumption. Create one of these: • A Wizard of Oz prototype • A manual service • A landing page • A mockup Day 3: Demand evidence of intent. This is where the YC approach gets ruthless about predicting market fit. Don't settle for "that's interesting" — demand concrete signals like letters of intent, actual pre-orders, or paid pilot commitments. The most powerful technique in their arsenal? The "shadow landing page" test — two identical pages with one key difference in your solution. Measure conversions, not just clicks. Cost: $100-200. Potential savings: months of wasted development. I've watched this play out repeatedly in cybersecurity. Technical founders believe brilliant tech equals market demand. It doesn't. The worst outcome isn't failure — it's building something no one wants. Execution separates successful founders from the rest. Validation IS execution—it's not a distraction. It's the most critical building you'll do. At NextLink Labs, we apply this standard to everything we build. Building without validation is like driving cross-country without a map. You might end up somewhere interesting, but you'll burn unnecessary fuel getting there. Spend 3 days and $500 now to save 6 months and $50K later. Your runway will thank you.