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𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗗𝗼—𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 In my early years of working with founders, I saw a pattern: brilliant ideas, passionate teams—but no real validation. Many built products based on assumptions, only to face the harsh reality of weak demand. One founder told me, “I wish I had talked to my customers earlier.” That hit me hard—it’s a mistake I’ve seen too many times. Before making assumptions, let’s quickly check the basic Dos and Don’ts to strengthen product-market fit. 𝘿𝙤𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙 ✅ 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. ✅ 𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗩𝗣𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. ✅ 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻-𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀. ✅ 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁. ✅ 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁—𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝘿𝙤𝙣’𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩-𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙁𝙞𝙩 ❌ 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. ❌ 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. ❌ 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 (𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘀). ❌ 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲—𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. ❌ 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 “𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀” 𝗼𝗿 “𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀” 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱. If you’re building your startup, pause and ask: 𝗗𝗼 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀? 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲! #StartupGrowth #ProductMarketFit #MarketValidation #FoundersJourney #LeanStartup #CustomerFirst #BuildMeasureLearn #StartupLessons #FounderTips #ScaleSmart