Building a product nobody wants is the most expensive mistake a founder can make. Months of development, thousands of dollars, countless hours of work, all wasted on something that does not solve a real problem.

A waitlist is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to validate demand before you build. Here is how to use it effectively.

Why Validate Before Building?

The statistics are sobering. According to CB Insights, 35% of startups fail because there is no market need for their product. Not because of bad execution, poor marketing, or running out of money. Simply because nobody wanted what they built.

Validation helps you:

Avoid building products nobody wants
Understand your target market better
Refine your value proposition
Build confidence before investing heavily
Gather early users who can become customers

The Waitlist as a Validation Tool

A waitlist page is a low-cost way to test demand. You are essentially asking people: "Would you want this?"

If people sign up, you have evidence of interest. If nobody signs up, you have valuable information before wasting time building.

What Signups Tell You

There is at least some interest in your concept
Your messaging resonates with your target audience
People are willing to share their email for potential access
Your positioning is clear enough to attract the right people

What Signups Do Not Tell You

Whether people will pay for the product
How much they will pay
Whether they will actually use it regularly
If your solution is better than alternatives

Signups are a signal, not proof. But they are a useful signal.

Setting Up Your Validation Waitlist

Step 1: Define Your Hypothesis

Before creating your page, clearly state what you are testing.

Example hypotheses:

"Freelance designers will pay for a tool that automates client invoicing"
"Remote teams need a better way to run asynchronous standups"
"Parents of young children want a service that plans healthy meals for them"

Your waitlist should test a specific hypothesis, not a vague idea.

Step 2: Create a Focused Landing Page

Your page should clearly communicate:

What it is: A brief description of your product
Who it is for: Your target audience
Why it matters: The main benefit or problem solved
What you want: Email signup for early access

Keep it simple. You are testing interest, not showcasing a finished product.

Step 3: Choose Success Metrics

Before driving traffic, decide what success looks like.

Metrics to consider:

Conversion rate: What percentage of visitors sign up?
Total signups: How many people signed up in a given period?
Traffic source performance: Which channels drive the most engaged users?
Engagement: Do signups open your emails? Reply to questions?

Example success criteria:

"If 500 people sign up in 30 days with a 15% conversion rate, we will proceed to building"
"If fewer than 100 people sign up despite $500 in ads, we will pivot"

Step 4: Drive Traffic

You need visitors to your page to test your hypothesis. Traffic sources:

Share in relevant online communities
Post on social media
Run small paid ad campaigns ($100-500)
Reach out directly to potential users
Ask friends to share with their networks

The goal is to get enough visitors for statistically meaningful results.

Analyzing Your Results

Scenario 1: Strong Interest

If signups exceed your targets and conversion rates are high:

Your concept resonates with the market
Your messaging is working
There is demand worth pursuing

Next steps: Start building, continue growing the waitlist, engage with signups to learn more.

Scenario 2: Weak Interest

If signups are below targets despite adequate traffic:

The market may not want this solution
Your messaging may be unclear or unappealing
You may be reaching the wrong audience

Next steps: Survey visitors who did not sign up, test different messaging, consider pivoting.

Scenario 3: Mixed Signals

If some aspects look good but others do not:

Analyze which traffic sources perform best
Look for patterns in who does sign up
Test variations of your messaging

Next steps: Iterate on positioning, narrow your target audience, gather qualitative feedback.

Going Beyond Signups

Signups show interest, but deeper validation requires more.

Ask Questions

Include a brief survey for new signups:

What is your biggest challenge with [problem area]?
How are you currently solving this problem?
What would make you pay for a solution?
How did you hear about us?

Keep it short. One to three questions maximum.

Have Conversations

Reach out to signups and ask if they would do a quick call. Offer something valuable in return, like early access or input on features.

Questions to ask:

Tell me about your workflow around [problem area]
What have you tried before? What worked or did not work?
If this product existed today, would you use it? Would you pay for it?

Test Willingness to Pay

The ultimate validation is whether people will pay. Consider:

Offering a pre-order or founding member discount
Adding a pricing page and tracking clicks
Asking directly: "Would you pay $X/month for this?"

Even a few paying customers before the product exists is strong validation.

Common Validation Mistakes

Building the Product First

The point of validation is to test before building. If you build first and validate later, you have it backwards.

Asking Friends and Family

Your friends will sign up to support you, not because they need your product. Focus on strangers in your target market.

Leading the Witness

When gathering feedback, do not ask "Would you use a tool that [does what your product does]?" People say yes to hypotheticals. Ask about their problems instead.

Ignoring Negative Signals

If validation results are poor, do not rationalize them away. Take the data seriously and adjust.

Setting No Success Criteria

Without predefined success metrics, you will interpret any result as positive. Decide what counts as validation before you start.

Case Study: Buffer's Validation

Buffer, the social media scheduling tool, started as a simple two-page website.

Page 1: Explained the concept and had a "Plans and Pricing" button. Page 2: Said "Hello! You caught us before we are ready" and had an email signup.

If nobody clicked the pricing page, there was no interest. If people clicked pricing and then still signed up, there was real interest.

This approach validated demand with zero product development.

The Lean Validation Framework

Here is a simple framework for validating with a waitlist:

Hypothesize: State what you believe about the market
Build: Create a landing page testing that hypothesis
Measure: Drive traffic and track signups
Learn: Analyze results against your success criteria
Decide: Build, iterate, or pivot based on data

Repeat as needed until you have confidence in your direction.

When to Stop Validating and Start Building

Validation can become procrastination. At some point, you need to build.

Signs you are ready:

Signups exceed your targets
Conversion rates are strong
Qualitative feedback confirms demand
People are asking when they can use the product
You have some indication of willingness to pay

Signs you need more validation:

Results are ambiguous
Feedback is mixed or contradictory
You are not confident about the core value proposition
Nobody is excited about what you are building

The Bottom Line

A waitlist is not just a marketing tool. It is a validation tool.

Before spending months building, spend a few weeks testing. Create a simple landing page, drive traffic, and measure response. The data you gather will either give you confidence to proceed or save you from building something nobody wants.

The best time to learn that your idea needs adjustment is before you have written thousands of lines of code.

Test early. Learn fast. Build what people actually want.