One thing I've picked up watching startups burn is how many founders build on gut feelings instead of actual data from conversations. They'll spend months hammering out features without once checking if anyone gives a toss.
The kicker is that a handful of user calls upfront can save literally hundreds of dev hours later. Talking to people gets you:
- Real pain points (not assumed ones)
- Pricing expectations (not guesses)
- Buying intent (not wishful thinking)
- Market language (for SEO and positioning)
- Feature priorities (no more vanity builds)
But plenty of founders avoid these talks because coding feels safer - you can measure commits, it's tangible. Building in a vacuum is comfortable. The uncomfortable stuff is learning to sell, handling objections, testing positioning.
In my experience, the strongest products come from constant feedback loops, not isolated dev sprints. So yeah, you should be spending way more time interviewing users, learning sales, and understanding objections instead of endlessly shipping features nobody asked for.
How much of your early-stage week do you dedicate to talking to potential customers? I'd argue it should be at least 50% until you hit product-market fit.
Someone in the thread nailed it: the founders who delay these calls usually already know what those calls will reveal - and they're not ready to hear it yet.
