How do founders ensure products meet real customer needs?

Most answers emphasize direct customer interaction—through interviews, feedback, and validation—while a few highlight founder passion or early product testing as ways to ensure real needs are addressed.

13 answers

Answers

  • Jonathan Awad

    Co-Founder, CEO · Baselayer

    Build close relationships with buyers

    Jonathan Awad says founders should build close relationships with buyers—getting as close as possible to as many as possible and giving value beyond the product—because buyers will then give them a chance.

    PMF Show · Watch on YouTube

  • Sam Stephenson

    Founder · Granola

    Ship early, test users

    Sam Stephenson says his team ships internal builds as quickly as possible and to small groups of friends and early users, but holds a high bar for whether it actually works for people before wider release.

    Peter Yang · Watch on YouTube

  • Keith Peiris

    Co-Founder · Lightfield

    Build something you love

    Keith Peiris advises founders to build something they love, because if they're obsessed with it, there will be customers in the world who are just as obsessed.

    PMF Show · Watch on YouTube

  • Vivek Vaidya

    Co-Founder/CTO · Kana

    Interview for night-time pains

    Vivek Vaidya says his team interviews customers, asking what keeps them up at night and what they are doing about it, to find pain points they have already tried to solve themselves.

    The Full Ratchet (TFR): Venture Capital and Startup Investing Demystified · The Full Ratchet (TFR): Venture Capital and Startup Investing Demystified · Listen at 17:44

  • Jesse Stein

    Founder & CEO · Hermetic Ai

    Test it with market

    Jesse Stein says founders should test their idea and see, because the market is always right.

    Restaurant Unstoppable · Watch on YouTube

  • Yoni Avital

    Co-founder & COO · Controlup

    Work directly with customers to validate pain points

    Yoni Avital advises founders to work directly with customers to validate pain points and their solution, since ideas imagined alone may hit reality differently.

    Code Story: Insights from Startup Tech Leaders · Code Story: Insights from Startup Tech Leaders · Listen at 34:39

  • Erik Allebest

    CEO · Chess.com

    Listen to customers

    Erik Allebest says founders should listen to their customers and pivot if it's not working, though he argues their own vision matters more than market signals.

    No Priors: AI, Machine Learning, Tech, & Startups · Watch on YouTube

  • Aizada Marat

    CEO & Founder · Alma

    Validate problem with paying customers

    Aizada Marat says founders should validate a problem by asking whether customers will pay for it today or sign a contract before starting, because praise and enthusiasm are just fluff.

    Village Global · Watch on YouTube

  • Gary Vaynerchuk

    Chairman of VaynerX, CEO of VaynerMedia · Vaynerx

    Test with consumers

    Gary Vaynerchuk says founders should find right instead of guess right by doing ideas and seeing what the consumer thinks, letting the consumer decide what is quality.

    The GaryVee Audio Experience · The GaryVee Audio Experience · Listen at 56:11

  • Temirlan Rakhmetzhanov

    Co-Founder & CEO · Armeta

    Validate with customers

    Temirlan Rakhmetzhanov says founders must validate with the market before building, describing how he tells clients a feature already exists to see if they'd buy it, since his earlier startups failed by building in silence without feedback.

    FinStrat Management, Inc. · Watch on YouTube

  • Gabrielle Marquez

    Founder Solutions Lead · Finstrat Management

    Talk to customers

    Gabrielle Marquez says there's no substitute for talking to your customers and asking what's important and what their problems are, rather than assuming someone will pay to solve a problem.

    FinStrat Management, Inc. · Watch on YouTube

  • Piyush Verma

    Co-Founder/ CEO · Neural Defend

    Talk to customers

    Piyush Verma says founders should go out into the market, talk to customers and get feedback, then improve their product, rather than starting from just an idea.

    Techstars · Watch on YouTube

  • Ben Goodwin

    Co-Founder/CEO/Formulator · Olipop Pbc

    Focus on the problem and listen

    Ben Goodwin says founders should focus on the problem and listen to customers, keeping an eye on the distance they create between themselves and the people using their product day to day.

    Inc. · Watch on YouTube

More Founder questions

View all →