How to validate a SaaS product idea before writing code

Executive overview

Most SaaS founders start with a product and then search for a market — that's why they fail to reach the first dollar. The MGP framework (Market, Go-to-market, Product) reverses the order: validate before you build.

Start by identifying a specific market segment with an urgent and important problem. Then go talk to 100 people in that market. Only then build — and build a 10X product.

The fastest path to the first dollar is the one where you talk to customers before writing a line of code.

Market: find an urgent and important problem

• Pick a specific niche — "riches are in the niches" — before trying to address a broad market.
• Urgency: the problem must be a top-three priority; if unsolved, real consequences follow (lost revenue, missed goals, business risk).
• Importance: urgency alone isn't enough — the problem must rank above the other 50 things competing for attention.
• Problems tied to revenue, risk, or likely-to-occur failure tend to meet both criteria.
• If you've already built something, set it aside mentally and evaluate the market independently.

Go-to-market: talk to 100 people

• Draw 100 circles — one per conversation you need to have with real people in your target market.
• Conversations must be one-on-one and high-fidelity; surveys don't substitute.
• The math: roughly 20% of 100 will be interested in buying now; 20% of those will actually buy — yielding ~4 customers if the thesis holds.
• Prior domain knowledge can reduce the number, but only if you've genuinely spoken to many in the role recently.
• Each conversation tests whether the problem is urgent and important — and reveals what a real solution needs to look like.
• After ~10 conversations you may have enough signal to pivot early, saving months.

Product: build a 10X solution

• Validating the problem doesn't guarantee people will buy your product — they may already use Salesforce, a spreadsheet, or nothing.
• Your solution must be 10X better than whatever the customer uses today (existing SaaS, spreadsheet, apathy, or status quo).
• Deep customer conversations make 10X product design tractable — you learn the exact gaps in alternatives.
• The three steps form a loop: product insights refine the market thesis; market conversations shape go-to-market; go-to-market feedback improves the product.
• The loop — market → go-to-market → product → repeat — is what accelerates the path to product-market fit.