Presell to 5+ customers at steep discount before building to validate willingness to pay
After generating waitlist interest, offer a 90% discount presale to all subscribers. If you can get 5 paying customers before building anything, you have validated that people will pay for the solution, not just express interest. This separates real demand from curiosity.
When to use
When you have waitlist signups (100+) from sharing your problem publicly and want to validate that people will actually pay before investing time building
Don't do this
Building based on waitlist signups alone without collecting money—people say they want it but won't pay when it exists
4 Founders Who Did This
After getting 100 waitlist signups, emails everyone offering 90% discount presale. Only builds the MVP if he gets 5 sales
Sent cold emails pitching a tool that didn't exist yet. Got on a 42-minute sales call, described the solution, and the prospect said 'send me the invoice I'll pay' without seeing any product.
Cold-emailed an escape room owner in Australia, pitched a tool that didn't exist, got on a 42-minute sales call where the prospect said 'send me the invoice' without seeing any product
After getting 100 waitlist signups, emails everyone offering 90% discount presale. Only builds the MVP if he gets 5 paying customers