14d • General discussion
I learned the Problem-Validation framework after failing multiple times
I spent two months building a fancy AI workflow.
Clean. Automated. Beautiful.
When I launched it?
13 people said “nice.”
0 actually used it.
Why?
Because I made the classic mistake:
I assumed a problem existed just because I felt it.
I never validated it.
The real lesson?
Projects don’t fail because the solution is bad.
They fail because the problem isn’t painful.
Now I use a simple 5-step filter before building anything:
1️⃣ Go where people complain
Reddit, X, Skool, LinkedIn DMs.
Look for pain in their own words.
Not assumptions — complaints.
2️⃣ Build a hypothesis, not a product
Loom demo.
Simple mockup.
Tiny prototype.
2–3 days max.
3️⃣ Show it to 10–15 people
Ask only:
“Does this solve your problem?”
Half the time, they’ll realize a problem exists only after you point it out.
4️⃣ Watch reactions, not words
“Can you show me more?” = gold.
“That’s cool” = corpse.
5️⃣ Decide fast
7+ interested? Build it.
3 or fewer? Kill it in 48 hours.
(Metrics aren’t sacred — just signals.)
Since applying this,
I started killing ideas in Week 1.
Ruthlessly.
And the ones I did build?
They actually worked:
Lead scoring tool: 40+ users in 2 weeks
Company summarizer: first client in Week 1
Not because they’re technically superior.
But because they solve problems people already feel in their workflow.
Is there any project you regret spending too long on?
Someone here will learn from it.
(P.S. If anyone wants a quick peek at the dead system I built months ago, check a screenshot.)
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I learned the Problem-Validation framework after failing multiple times
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Entrepreneurs will solve all the world's major problems... but only if you #Believe in yourself enough to do it.
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