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Like many product teams, we thought we were doing everything right. We had a clear problem to solve, a well-defined MVP scope, and a timeline to ship. So, naturally, we dove straight into building the product.
For months, we focused on features, backend architecture, and making sure our MVP would be “ready” before showing it to the world.
Marketing? That was something we’d think about later — after we had something solid to launch.
This turned out to be a big mistake.
The Midway Realization
Somewhere in the middle of development, we started questioning our approach.
What if no one actually wanted this?
It wasn’t that we didn’t believe in the idea. We just had no real validation from the market. There was no waitlist, no user conversations, and no actual signals that we were building the right thing.
So instead of continuing blindly, we decided to take a step back and launch something else first: our landing page.
The Turning Point: 150+ Demo Requests Before We Even Finished
With a simple website, a clear value proposition, and basic marketing campaigns, we started running ads and collecting signups.
The response was immediate — 150+ demo requests within weeks.
But the real breakthrough wasn’t just the number of signups; it was the insights we gained.
Potential customers told us exactly what they were looking for, what problems were actually painful, and what they would be willing to pay for. Some of our original assumptions were validated, but others were completely off.
Pivoting Before It Was Too Late
This changed everything. Instead of blindly finishing our MVP, we reassessed our priorities.
We removed features that no one seemed to care about.
We started adding the functionality that users specifically asked for.
We refined our messaging based on how users described their pain points.
What We Learned (So You Don’t Make the Same Mistake)
Market before you build. A landing page and early marketing efforts can validate your idea before you invest months into development.
Talk to users early. The first 150+ demo requests gave us insights we never would have gotten on our own.
Let real demand shape the product. Instead of building an MVP and hoping people want it, find what people want first — and then build it.
Looking back, this one shift — marketing before finishing the product — likely saved us months of work and a significant amount of money in wasted development.
If we had to do it all over again, we would always start with marketing first.