Product-market fit starts long before launch. Here's how to sell your idea early.

Technical.ly

28-05-2025

Startups don't die from lack of money. They die from lack of market.
That was the message at the 2025 Technical.ly Builders Conference panel on 'Early Stage Sales & Marketing: Finding Product-Market Fit,' where Parity founder Bree Jones and product strategist Lindsay Tabas broke down why even the most visionary product ideas fail without early validation.
'The number-one reason startups fail is they launch to no market need,' Tabas said. 'They were high off their own idea and built their own product based on what they wanted, didn't really talk to customers and there was no one waiting for it when they launched.'
Tabas, founder of LearnProductMarketFit.com and a seasoned startup advisor, has helped founders and investors avoid these pitfalls through process-driven customer discovery. Jones, whose real estate company Parity transforms hyper-vacant blocks in Baltimore into communities of affordable homeownership, has lived that lesson firsthand.
The nut of their argument: If you can't find people excited about your idea before it exists, you won't find them after it's built. Product-market fit isn't an end goal; it's a process that starts from day one.
Jones illustrated this with her own story. Before she raised a total of $8 million for Parity, she validated her concept with a single $100 rendering she bought off Craigslist.
'I talked to every single person who would listen, and I showed them that $100 rendering. I said, 'Hey, if we could buy all these properties and fix them up, would you want to live here?'' Jones recounted. 'More and more people continued to say yes.'
This scrappy approach helped her build a community of would-be homeowners long before renovations began. That early validation led to coverage by Technical.ly, a major catalyst that Jones says created the social proof she needed to attract funding.
'Investors like to be the first to be second, meaning that they never want to be first in money,' she said, 'but as soon as someone else like JPMorgan Chase throws their hat in the ring, everyone else is like, 'Oh my gosh, here you go, take my money.''
Tabas emphasized that traction can start even earlier. She recommended beginning with interviews — not surveys — to get deep insights from target users. Her top three questions: Why did you decide to take this call with me today? What do you stand to gain if we solve this problem, or what do you stand to lose if we don't? What's the timeline to solving it?
This kind of pointed inquiry, she said, helps separate mild interest from real urgency — and helps startups spend their time on the people most likely to convert.
From idea to product
As for how to find those people, both panelists stressed leveraging existing networks. Go back to your LinkedIn connections, Facebook groups and email lists. Build community from the ground up, not through expensive ad campaigns.
'We all already have a community; we just don't know how to use it and leverage it,' Tabas said. 'That's where I tell people to always start — looking at the community you already have and the relationships you already have.'
Jones, who founded Parity after leaving a corporate job in DC, challenged assumptions about who wants to live in distressed neighborhoods. Her goal: create equitable homeownership without displacement. But when early investors told her no one would choose to live in Baltimore, she didn't argue. She went and found people who disagreed.
By capturing their responses, Jones created a flywheel effect, or once a concept starts moving, it becomes self-perpetuating. As interest grew, she was able to show demand. That, in turn, helped unlock more investment.
Parity now owns over 50 properties in Baltimore. Each transformation costs about $350,000, but the commitment from future residents keeps things moving.
Selling the vision, not the product
One underutilized tactic is creating a customer advisory board, a group of early supporters willing to offer ongoing feedback, according to Tabas. Jones said that those advisors often become the company's biggest evangelists, promoting the product even when the founder isn't in the room.
It's a tactic grounded in psychology: People want to be part of something. When they see their input reflected in the product, they become emotionally invested. They bring others along.
Both panelists noted that storytelling plays a critical role in the early stages. Jones closed her presentation with a short video of one of Parity's homebuyers and her daughter walking through a gutted house, watching it transform into a family home.
For early-stage founders, the message was clear: Product-market fit isn't a milestone, it's a mindset. The earlier you embrace the reality that people buy solutions to their own problems, not your idea, the more likely your business will survive.
'Always remember that when it comes to raising capital,' Jones said, 'you also hold power.'