[mrtksn]

So, are there any examples of something that started with the selling first building later?

Sure, for a small operation that is not particularly innovative you can do that. You can first sell someone a house and later build it but I am not aware of a product that made it big by consulting the potential users without having a product(MVP or even a POC) in hand. Usually, it seems, people start with a product that they have some kind of awareness of its purpose and value, measure the reactions and iterate it thereafter.

I mean, if selling first and building later is the right way to do a start-up, there must be people who actually succeeded with their start-ups by selling first and building later but I'm yet to hear about one.

[0xferruccio]

Oracle to the CIA.

Also I don’t think there is a right way of doing a startup, there’s no guide you can follow or rules. What I’m saying is that addressing real problems and talking with people that have the authority and budget to address them before building something seems like a good way to minimize risk for b2b ventures.

[mrtksn]

>Oracle to the CIA.

I was unable to confirm it.

Anyway the advice of sell first build later and talk to customers sound very smart, it's just that it I don't see much of success stories based on that process.

On the other hand, build something basic, put it in front of the people, measure and iterate based on the measurements have so many examples. Like pretty much everything out there.

So yes, the stuff on the article sound smart but is it?

[0xferruccio]

Tuft and Needle started selling with a fake landing page to validate their idea.

Once they got their first sale for a mattress they started working on the company. (source: their indiehackers interview)

Hotjar started a super successful referral campaign before having a working product.

Pietr Levels validated features with a fake credit card form to see if people would pay for some membership.

And there are countless other examples. Building a landing page that explains the product or a proof of concept isn’t building the product, if something can help you give the idea of what you have in mind build it.

[mrtksn]

Cool, thank you!

I think I took the "selling" word a bit too literally.

[0xferruccio]

Happy this conversation helped you :)

I find this topic to be really sensitive to me as I find that the first impact with the customer is always a big reality check for every idea I have.

I often find myself building what “I think” people/companies want, but I think it’s healthy to try and build what they’re already willing to pay for!

[mrtksn]

Oh, it happens to me too. As techies maybe we think in the context of "Wouldn't be cool if..." and just really want to believe that it's not just cool but actually people will use it and pay for it and ignore the signs of the opposite as long as we can because it's really cool and sure people will come around and see how cool it is if I can make it shinier.