Before you build anything, you need to know if people will pay for it. Here's a proven method that costs nothing and gives you real signal from real strangers.
"Ask your friends" — they're too polite to tell you the truth.
"Post on LinkedIn" — unless you have an audience, nobody sees it.
"Build an MVP and see if people sign up" — you just spent 3 months building something nobody wanted.
The Reddit method gives you honest feedback from real strangers who have no reason to be polite, in the exact communities where your ideal customer already exists.
Don't pick generic subreddits. Find where your specific customer lives.
Building accounting software for freelancers: r/freelance, r/personalfinance, r/smallbusiness.
Building a content scheduling tool: r/Entrepreneur, r/ContentCreators, r/socialmedia.
Look for subreddits with 50,000–500,000 members.
You are NOT pitching. You are surfacing pain.
**Wrong:** "I'm building a tool for freelancers to track invoices. Would anyone use this?"
**Right:** "Freelancers — how are you currently tracking which invoices are overdue? I've been doing it in a Google Sheet and it feels like there has to be a better way."
The second version sounds like a real person with a real problem. Because it is.
A pain signal is any reply that says "yes, I have this problem." Look for replies describing current workarounds, frustration with existing solutions, or "I've been looking for something that does this."
If you get 15+ genuine pain signals within 48 hours — you have demand confirmation.
"Hey, your reply about [specific thing] resonated. I'm actually working on a solution. Would you be willing to jump on a 10-minute call? I want to understand the problem better before I build anything."
Most say yes if you're genuine.
Ask on the call: "Would you pay $X per month for something that solves this completely?"
Don't soften it. If 2 out of 5 say yes — build it. That's a 40% conversion rate from a stranger DM. The market is real.
Total cost: $0. Total time: 5–10 hours. Ship with confidence or kill it before you waste three months.
Schedule to 16 platforms, manage your team, and grow your audience — all for free. No credit card required.
Create free account →16 platforms · Unlimited posts · Free forever
Comparing tools?
❤️ 2% of every SocialMate subscription goes to SM-Give — our charity initiative. Learn about SM-Give →