Tactic 10 of 101 · Product Launch
Validate Before You Build
If no one buys the vision, don't build the product. If they do, use the pre-orders to fund it. I got my first 15 customers with a message and a Stripe link, before writing a line of code.
By Justin Novak · Updated October 30, 2026
- Ideal for
- Startups, SaaS, B2B
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Capital required
- None
- Time to execute
- Quick win (0 to 3 days)
- Scalability
- Low
- Risk / reward
- Low
Before building my first software products, I messaged everyone I knew in the industry saying "Here's what I'm building, would you pay $165/month for this?"
They said yes. I sent them a Stripe link. Boom: pre-sales, validation, and funding in one move. I got my first 15 customers just like that.
If no one buys the vision, don't build the product. If they do, use the pre-orders to fund it.
Common questions
What if they say yes but never pay?
Then they said no. A verbal yes is a compliment; a payment is validation. The Stripe link is the whole test.
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