Use design partners as co-builders with weekly feedback sessions for months before public launch
Instead of building in isolation and launching to the public, recruit 3-5 design partners from target companies and engage them in weekly feedback sessions for 3-6 months. These partners shape the product through real usage while providing enterprise validation. The key is choosing partners who will dedicate significant time (like Hotwire's 6-month weekly engagement) because their commitment level signals genuine need.
When to use
When building B2B products for enterprise or mid-market where the product needs to integrate into complex workflows and the founder needs deep domain understanding
Don't do this
Building based on assumptions and launching to the public without extended co-development with real users who have skin in the game
1 Founder Who Did This
Recruited Hotwire (6-month weekly engagement), Robinhood (30-person stakeholder workshop), and Intuit QuickBooks (12-week sessions) as design partners before public launch. Partners shaped the product through real usage.