Ten conversations before you build anything

Most new businesses do not fail because the founder could not build the product. They fail because nobody needed it enough to pay. And that is something you can find out before building anything.

Talk about their problem, not your idea

Find ten people who might have the problem you want to solve. Ask about the last time it happened, what they did about it and what it cost them. Do not pitch. The moment you describe your idea, people become polite, and polite answers are worthless.

Listen for money already spent

The strongest signal is that someone already pays, in money or time, to deal with the problem: a tool they dislike, a workaround they built, a person they hire. People who have never tried to fix a problem rarely pay for a fix.

Decide your rule first

Before the conversations, write down what result would make you continue, change direction or stop. Deciding afterwards invites you to explain away bad news.

Ten conversations take a weekend. Building the wrong thing takes months.