If you build it, I'd love to try it.

“This sounds great - if you build it, I’d love to try it” may be the most misinterpreted customer signal in early stage startup land.

It typically appears in two situations early on in a startup’s life:

1. You’re a pre-product startup looking for early customers
2. You’re a pre-PMF startup with a product in market and customers ask you for additional features before committing

In both instances, if their reaction is a “if you build it, I’d love to try it”, it’s a “maybe” at most and more often than not an easier way out vs a straight up “no”.

Let me explain why.

Pre-product startups

If you’re a pre-product startup, proper and thorough customer validation is hard.

Many people will jump on a call with you to give you feedback and will likely tell you that they’d love to try your product - once it’s ready.

Unfortunately, reality is that most will never actually try your product once it’s ready. Because “I’ll try it once it’s ready” is for the most part very far away from “this is such a pressing need, when is it ready / when can I get my hands on it”.

Despite that, “I have 5 customers lined up that would love to try my product once I build it” is an answer we get way too often when we ask founders about what sort of customer validation they’ve done to date.

We invest as early as possible - often before even a line of code is written. Meaning we don’t require any traction. Yet we will try to understand what you’ve done to validate your idea as that says a lot about how you and how you’re thinking about building a startup.

Which comes as a surprise as this is generally well understood and documented in books such as the mom test.

But then again, most founders are huge optimists by nature - otherwise they wouldn’t start a venture backed startup.

Which in most instances is a huge benefit. But when it comes to interpreting early customer feedback, it doesn’t always work in your favor.

To avoid falling into this trap too,

• (Re-) read the mom test / see below for a short summary
• Test if they’re willing to dedicate meaningful time and energy to you / your startup as a proxy for their interest (including responsiveness) or introduce you to decision makers within their organization
• Try to get something signed - even if an LOI is far from binding, it’s a much stronger signal than verbal interest
• Or even better, sign your first few contracts before building anything as the size / urgency of the problem is strong enough for customers to do that (and do the work manually initially / until you automate it - “do things that don’t scale”).

Pre-PMF startups that get asked for additional features

A situation many pre-PMF startups with a product in market come across is customers responding to a demo with:

“This is great, I’d love to try it if you add features x,y,z”.

Unfortunately, most of what I above applies to this response too.

If a customer is truly interested in what you’re building, they’re willing to give you much stronger signals than “I’d love to try it”.

So rather than trying to build your way out of a lack of customer pull (which is the first instinct many especially technical / product founders have), do the work to validate if there is true interest there or not first.

Because if there isn’t, you didn’t just waste valuable time and $ on building something no one actually wants. But you also end up with a messy product that is a collection of features without having a clear value proposition for a specific ICP.

Or as I outlined a few weeks ago, you lack Singularity of Purpose.

If you’re thinking about / have started building an AI native software startup, reach out.

We often get involved before you even write your first line of code, catalyze your first round with up to $750K and specialize in helping you get off the ground better and faster, alongside 200+ GTM leaders at some of the fastest growing software startups across North America.

There’s truly no “too early” for us at focal.

PS: If you don’t want to read the entire book The Mom Test, here are six core lessons:

1. Don’t Talk About Your Idea — Talk About Their Lives

Avoid pitching too early. People often jump straight into describing their product or idea, which can lead to polite but misleading reactions. Instead, ask about real experiences, behaviors, and problems in the person’s life. Focus on how they currently handle the problem your product might solve, not on your grand vision.

Why it matters: When you ask people what they think about your idea, you get opinions (often nice-sounding but vague). When you ask them about their actual experiences, you get facts.

2. Ask About the Past, Not the Future

Past actions are concrete: “When was the last time you encountered this issue?” “How did you deal with it?” Future predictions (like “Will you use this?” or “Would you pay for this?”) are hypothetical and far less reliable.

Why it matters: People are generally bad at predicting their future behavior. They also like to please, so they might say they would buy a product just because it sounds good. By sticking to real, recent events, you uncover genuine insights.

3. Aim for Specifics, Not Generalities

Ask for numbers and details: “How many times did that happen last month?” “How much did that cost you?” “How do you normally buy software for your team?”. General statements such as “I usually have some problems with X” aren’t as helpful as concrete examples and data.

Why it matters: Specific numbers and anecdotes reveal the true magnitude of a problem, how someone budgets, who the decision-makers are, etc. This helps you gauge real customer pain (and real market potential).

4. Look for Real Problems and Pain Points

Understand the problem deeply before offering a solution. Listen for direct quotes about frustrations, inefficiencies, or missed opportunities. Avoid the trap of trying to steer the conversation toward your solution. Let them talk about the problem in their own words.

Why it matters: If the problem isn’t real or urgent, a fancy solution won’t matter. You need to confirm that people truly feel a pain worth solving—and that they’d pay or take action to fix it.

5. Beware of Compliments, Vague Promises, and Excuses

Compliments (“This sounds cool!”) feel good but don’t confirm anything about willingness to pay or actual need.Vague promises (“I’d definitely use that!”) don’t mean a purchase or ongoing usage. Excuses (“We’d probably use it if we had more time…”) often mean they’re just being polite.

Why it matters: Politely positive feedback can mask disinterest. Always look for deeper signals—like someone truly experiencing a painful problem or even offering to pre-pay.

6. Focus on Commitment and Advancement

After clarifying the customer’s problem and context, look for signals of commitment: Are they offering to buy or invest time now? Are they pushing you to deliver? Are they introducing you to a stakeholder or giving you access to company data Advancements can be small but real steps that show genuine interest (e.g., scheduling another meeting with their boss, or letting you talk to their purchasing department).

Why it matters: Action speaks louder than words. When people are really interested, they’ll show it by investing time, money, or reputational capital.