Founder tips: No.1 - Start small

Start Small: Validate Before You Build

You do not need a huge launch, a big team or millions in funding to start a business.

What you need first is validation.

Validation means proof that people actually care about the problem you are solving, understand the value of your solution and would potentially pay for it.

A lot of founders skip this part because they believe they already know the market.

Most of the time, they do not.

That is why I always think it is better to start small. I have built multiple projects this way. You test the idea, speak to people, build a simple version and only then decide whether it is worth going deeper.

If it does not work, the downside is limited. You learn, move on and avoid burning months of time or putting your financial security at risk.

Do Not Quit Too Early

One of the biggest mistakes founders make is quitting too early and going “all in” before they have real proof.

You can start while keeping your job.

Work on the business on the side. Validate the problem. Talk to customers. Build a small version. See whether the market actually responds.

This reduces risk massively.

You are not betting your rent, mortgage or family stability on a theory. You are collecting evidence before making the bigger move.

That is exactly how investors think. They do due diligence before investing. Founders should do the same before investing too much of their own time, money and life into an idea.

Validate the Problem First

Before building anything serious, speak to potential customers.

Ask them:

• Is this actually a problem for you?
• How are you solving it today?
• What is painful about the current solution?
• Would you pay for something better?
• How much would this be worth to you?
• Who else in your company or network has this problem?

Do not just ask friends, “Do you like my idea?”

That usually gives you bad feedback because people are polite. They will say it sounds interesting, but that does not mean they would use it or pay for it.

You need to verify the problem with people who look like your actual target market.

Use Your Network Properly

LinkedIn is very useful at this stage.

Find people who could be your target customers and reach out with a simple message. Do not overcomplicate it. You are not trying to hard sell them. You are trying to understand the problem better.

Ask for feedback. Ask for a short call. Ask whether the problem exists in their world.

Also use friends of friends.

Sometimes you do not have the right network, but your friends, former colleagues or investors might. Ask for introductions. Early-stage validation often comes from conversations, not ads, pitch decks or perfectly designed landing pages.

Your goal is to get close to the customer as quickly as possible.

Research the Market and Competition

Before building, research the topic properly.

Founders often say, “Nobody else is doing this.”

That is usually a red flag.

In 99% of cases , someone has already thought about a similar product. Maybe they failed. Maybe they succeeded. Maybe they were too early. Maybe they targeted the wrong market. Maybe their execution was weak.

Either way, you can learn from them.

Look at competitors and ask:

• Who has tried this before?
• Why did they fail or succeed?
• What are customers complaining about?
• What is missing from current solutions?
• What has changed in the market now?
• Why is this the right time?
• Why would your version be better?

Competition is not always bad. It can prove that the problem exists.

What matters is whether you understand the gap, the timing and your unfair advantage.

If you later speak to investors, they will not believe you if your market research is basically, “There is no competition.” Good investors know there is almost always competition, even if it is Excel, email, agencies or people doing the work manually.

Build an MVP, Not the Final Product

Once you have some signal, build an MVP.

I usually think of this as an alpha version.

It does not need to be perfect. It does not need every feature. It just needs to explain the value clearly and test whether people care.

Your MVP could be:

• a simple landing page
• a basic product demo
• a clickable prototype
• a spreadsheet-backed workflow
• a manual service pretending to be software
• a stripped-down version of the product

The goal is not to build the final company in version one.

The goal is to learn.

You want to find out what people understand, what they ignore, what they ask for and whether they would actually take the next step.

Keep the First Version Simple

At the beginning, simple is better.

Create a clear page that explains:

• what problem you solve
• who it is for
• why it matters
• what the user gets
• what they should do next

Do not hide behind buzzwords. If people cannot understand the value quickly, either the messaging is wrong or the problem is not painful enough.

A simple MVP forces you to explain the idea clearly.

That is useful because if you cannot explain it simply, you probably do not understand it well enough yet.

Iterate With Feedback

Once people react to the MVP, use their feedback to improve it.

Pay attention to what they actually do, not only what they say.

People may say they like something, but never sign up. They may say it is not important, then keep asking questions about one specific feature. They may ignore the thing you thought was the core product and get excited about a small part of it.

That is valuable.

The product often changes once real users touch it.

This is much easier when you are still small. You are not locked into an expensive team, office, infrastructure or product roadmap built on assumptions.

De-Risk Your Startup Journey

My main advice is simple: de-risk your startup journey.

Being a founder is already hard. You do not need to make it even harder by putting yourself under unnecessary financial pressure too early.

1. Keep a Financial Cushion

Before quitting your job, try to have at least 6-12 months of personal runway.

That should cover basic living costs: rent or mortgage, food, bills and your normal lifestyle , including things that keep you sane like gym, sport or activities.

This is important because desperation leads to bad decisions.

When you are under pressure, you may accept bad terms, chase the wrong customer, build the wrong feature, take money from the wrong investor or give up too early.

A financial cushion gives you space to think clearly.

2. Validate Before You Commit

Do not spend months building something in isolation.

Validate early. Speak to customers. Research the market. Build a simple alpha. Get feedback. Iterate.

If nobody cares when the product is simple, they probably will not magically care when it is polished.

The earlier you discover the truth, the cheaper it is.

Final Thought

Ambition is important, but ambition without validation is dangerous.

You do not need to leap before you have looked. Build step by step. Validate the problem. Use your network. Research the market. Test with an MVP. Keep your costs low. Protect your personal runway.

That does not make you less serious.

It makes you more likely to survive long enough to build something that actually works.

The best founders are not just brave. They are practical, disciplined and willing to test reality before betting everything on an idea.