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by vitovito
135 days ago
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I used to tell founders that if they can't figure out how to find the right people to get feedback from early, they're also not going to be able to find the right people to sell to later. The logistics are the same at either end of the process. If they expect to hire a salesperson once they have a product, why not hire a research panel vendor or a firm like GLG to get validation? If they want to own their sales and customer acquisition channels once they have a product, they have to figure out how to build an audience to get validation. Is it a dark art of hustle and luck, or is it just marketing, and most founders don't want to do that? The only difference is what you're selling, but the process is equivalent. |
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On existing solutions (GLG / building an audience): This is the practical fork in the road you're highlighting.
Outsource (GLG, panel vendors): Effective but often cost-prohibitive for a bootstrapping founder validating a risky idea. It's a capital-intensive solution to an information problem.
In-house (Build an audience/marketing): This is the "correct" long-term answer. But here's the rub: Building an audience is a product in itself, requiring months/years of consistent effort before you can use it to validate your current idea. The founder's dilemma is they need feedback now to decide if they should spend 2 years building the audience.