Collect feedback on the initial idea

Collecting early feedback is a skill, and most people do it badly. Not because they don't try — but because they confuse politeness for signal, and enthusiasm for commitment.

Who to talk to (and who to skip)

1. People who have the problem — even if they wouldn't pay to solve it yet.
2. People who have adjacent problems — they'll tell you what you're actually competing with.
3. People who sell to the same audience — they know the objection patterns you'll hit.

Skip friends. Skip other founders you admire. Skip investors at this stage — their job is pattern-matching, not problem-validation.

What to listen for

The signal is the gap between what someone says they do and what they actually do. Ask about the last time the problem happened. Ask what they did instead. Ask what they'd pay to not do that again. Polite enthusiasm is noise; specific recent frustration is signal.