Not checking demand before building was my costliest founder mistake
A founder spent years developing a product, hiring a team, and pouring money into — only to realise they had never confirmed whether anyone actually wanted it in the first place. Skipping market before building turned out to be the most expensive mistake in both money and time.
The right order is: idea → talk directly to potential customers → confirm demand → then build. Simple methods like (collecting payment before launch), a waitlist, or honest conversations with just ten strangers can prevent enormous waste.
Positive from friends and family does not count as . The only real test is whether someone who doesn't know you is willing to pay.
Key points
- Always confirm before writing a single line of code or spending money
- Friends saying 'that sounds cool' is not market
- , waitlists, and interviews with 10 strangers are concrete, low-cost tools
- The correct sequence is validate → build, not build → try to sell
- For s, an early wrong bet is far more costly than for a funded team