Founder Learnings · Things I underestimated as a founder · Nº 02
We polished a product the market never asked for
Why I now tell founders to talk to the market before they fall in love with the work.
Gregor Zehetner· 2 min read
Back in 2013, we sat in Silicon Valley and built day and night. We celebrated technical achievements and hoped that if we just built hard enough, the product would speak for itself.
Building without talking to anyone
We barely talked to the people we were building for. We hadn't even pinned down exactly who they were. There was no real ideal customer profile, just a vague sense of "everyone having a smartphone in the pocket."
And we had a favorite excuse ready: nobody ever asked Mark Zuckerberg for Facebook.
Two different questions
It took me years to see how badly I had misread that line. It doesn't mean don't talk to customers. It means don't ask them which product to build. Those are two different questions.
You shouldn't ask people what to build. You should ask them what problem is worth solving for them – and then it is your job to build the answer.
We skipped that question. We polished a product the market never asked for, and called our silence "focus."
What I tell founders today
The market doesn't reward the hours you blindly pour into a product. It rewards solving a problem someone actually has. So talk to the market before you fall in love with the work.
How many customers did you reach out to before launching your first product version?
Originally shared on LinkedIn as part of the series #ThingsIUnderestimatedAsAFounder.
Written by
Gregor Zehetner
Gregor Zehetner, exited SaaS founder (Tapkey) and strategic advisor based in Vienna. Supporting tech startups and scaleups with Strategic Sparring, Fractional CxO, Go-to-Market and M&A Advisory.
