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How to Validate Your Idea and Achieve PMF in the Early Stages
A No-BS Guide to Finding What People Actually Want
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Hey there, product people! đź‘‹
Welcome back to Rashdan's Huddle! If you're new here, we break down the realities of building great products, scaling teams, and leveraging AI to navigate the messy yet rewarding world of product management.
Today, we’re tackling a crucial topic: how to validate your idea and achieve product-market fit (PMF) in the early stages.Most startups don’t fail because they couldn’t build a product. They fail because they build something nobody actually wants. The road to PMF is paved with assumptions, and the only way to succeed is to test, validate, and iterate relentlessly.
In this edition, I’ll walk you through:
Why early validation is a game-changer
How to systematically discover a real problem
The key steps to building and testing an MVP
How to Validate Your Idea and Achieve PMF
Why Early Validation Matters
Imagine spending months (or even years) perfecting a product, only to realize nobody wants it. This is the harsh reality for startups that skip the validation process. Early validation saves time, money, and most importantly helps you avoid building something useless.
Take Slack, for example. Before becoming a billion-dollar company, it started as an internal tool for a failed gaming startup. The team realized their chat tool solved a bigger problem than the game itself. They pivoted, launched early, and iterated based on real user feedback, leading to massive success.
How to Validate Early:
Talk to potential users before building anything.
Run small experiments to test demand.
Be open to pivoting if the idea isn’t resonating.
Are You Solving a Real Problem?
PMF starts with a simple question: Are you solving a painful, urgent problem for a well-defined audience? Many startups fail because they build “nice-to-have” products instead of solving mission-critical problems.
How to Validate the Problem:
Talk to customers: Conduct interviews, send surveys, and immerse yourself in their world.
Observe behaviors: Are people hacking together their own solutions? If not, the problem may not be urgent enough.
Look for repeated pain points: If the same frustration keeps popping up, you’re onto something.
Example: Airbnb founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia didn’t start with an elaborate platform. They tested demand by renting out air mattresses in their apartment. The overwhelming interest validated that people were open to alternative accommodations, leading them to build Airbnb.
Build a Simple MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
Once you’ve validated the problem, the next step is to build an MVP—a bare-bones version of your product that tests your core assumptions.
Key MVP Principles:
Keep it simple. An MVP isn’t about perfection; it’s about learning.
Start with a landing page, a prototype, or even a manual service.
Launch quickly, get feedback, and iterate. If your first version isn’t a little embarrassing, you launched too late.
Example: Dropbox famously launched with just a demo video, and got thousands of signups before building the actual product.
Go-to-Market Testing: Do People Actually Want It?
Building an MVP is one thing; getting real users is another. Your goal here is to answer: Are people actually using (or paying for) your product?
Effective Go-to-Market Tests:
Pre-launch waitlists: Gauge demand before launching.
Paid ads & landing pages: Test conversion rates with small-budget campaigns.
Beta testers & early adopters: Give access and observe engagement, are users coming back and referring others?
Actions speak louder than words. If people say they love your product but don’t use it, something is off.
Measuring PMF: How Do You Know You've Made It?
So, how do you know when you’ve hit PMF? Here are some strong indicators:
High retention rates: If users keep coming back, you’re onto something.
Organic growth & referrals: People love your product enough to spread the word.
Passionate user feedback: Look for strong word-of-mouth and excitement.
One of the most famous PMF benchmarks is Sean Ellis’ “40% rule” - If at least 40% of your users say they’d be “very disappointed” if your product disappeared, you’re in a strong PMF zone.
What If You Don’t Have PMF Yet?
Not hitting PMF is frustrating, but it’s normal. Here’s what you can do:
Revisit the problem: Are you solving something truly painful?
Narrow your audience: Your niche might be too broad.
Tweak your messaging: Maybe the product is right, but your positioning is off.
Double down on engaged users: Learn from the people who already love your product and build more for them.
Many great companies from Instagram to YouTube pivoted multiple times before finding PMF. Keep testing, refining, and learning.
Tools to Check Out
PMF Validation: SurveyMonkey, Typeform
Go-to-Market Testing: Google Ads, Facebook Ads
Finding PMF is the holy grail for startups, but it’s rarely a straight path. The key is to validate early, build lean, and listen to your users every step of the way. If you focus on solving real problems for real people, your chances of success skyrocket.
Until next time, keep building awesome products.
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