Build a simple one-page website describing your product and its core benefit. Add an email capture form or 'Join Waitlist' button. Drive traffic via social media, Reddit, or direct outreach. If 5-10% of visitors sign up, you have strong demand signal.
Offer to sell your product before it's built. This is the strongest demand signal — people voting with their money. Use a simple payment link (Stripe, Razorpay) and tell people 'we're building this, early access for ₹999' or similar. Even 5 pre-sales from strangers validates the idea.
Do manually what your product would automate. If you want to build an AI report generator, first deliver the report manually for a few customers. This validates willingness to pay, teaches you the actual problem, and generates revenue while you build.
Talk to 10-15 people who match your target customer. Ask about their current workflow, biggest frustrations, and what they've already tried. Don't mention your solution until the end. Listen for patterns. If you hear the same problem described the same way by multiple people — that's a real problem worth solving.
Real validation requires strangers (not friends or family) committing with either their email (weak), their time (medium), or their money (strong). If nobody outside your network signs up for your waitlist or pre-orders your product, that's important information — not failure.
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