Building Virgiò. Exploring how early-stage founders manage priorities, plans and execution when
Startup, AI, product & growth. Learning by talking to founders
@Goodmaniscoming $110 revenue, 22 signups, 14 bugs fixed and 6 introduced is a real founder trade-off. What did you choose to work on first this week—acquisition, retention, or stability—and which signal made that priority win?
Market research matters when it changes a decision.
I’m learning to separate what a founder actually experienced, what I inferred, and what still needs evidence. More notes won’t help if I can’t decide what to test next.
What signal last changed your roadmap?
@NikiTsivitanou That distinction is where discovery breaks: “would pay” is comfortable; a real price forces a choice. What set the two paying users apart—urgency, problem frequency, budget, or when the offer came? I’m studying which interview signals survive a real commitment.
@ASMIT0814 I think it depends on the stage. I spent months building features, then realized I needed to talk to people and test my assumptions first. Now I plan each week around one clear goal. How do you decide what to focus on when the signals from users are still unclear?
@jiayiwhere That three-days-versus-20-minutes contrast is a strong signal. What made you realise it was time to stop researching and ask an expert? I’m studying how solo founders decide when AI has reached its limit, and your trigger would be really useful.
@epiphie@TTrimoreau AI can compress a transcript, but it can’t decide which uncomfortable sentence should change the roadmap. How do you tell when one sentence reflects a real pattern rather than a single anecdote?
@artofannaaagaaj That “what I do vs what I don’t” decision feels like the real operating system for a solo founder. When everything seems important, what rule helps you say no—revenue impact, customer evidence, urgency, or something else?
Researching X and Reddit to understand my target persona.
I’m building a workspace that connects interviews, evidence and next actions—so research doesn’t stay scattered in notes.
A lesson: mentioning my product too early can bias an interview.
How do you reduce bias?
@BabaDev_@emilis_venckus Your 9–5 + solo-founder setup is close to mine. I’m testing an AI workflow that finds founder discussions, verifies profiles, and structures the evidence for market research. Since you already use AI workflows, where does your marketing research still become manual or repetitive?
@osayawe_terry Same setup here—building beside a full-time job. I’m testing an AI workflow that finds founder conversations, verifies profiles, and turns the evidence into research notes. With four products, how do you decide which market signal deserves your limited time?
@faruqi_mohammad I’m also validating a startup alongside a full-time job. My workflow uses AI to find founder conversations, verify context, and structure the evidence. For SEODisaster, what counts as real demand before revenue: interviews, usage, signups, or sales?
@emilis_venckus Very similar here: full-time job by day, startup after hours. I’m testing an AI workflow that finds founder discussions, verifies context, and turns them into research notes. How are you validating Master Energy and deciding what to build next?
I’m building a startup alongside a full-time job, so time is limited.
I’m now validating the target audience and problem, and building an AI workflow to make market research more efficient.
Founders: how do you do market research, and what’s the hardest part?
@TimoBuilds_ I’m testing this by looking for repeated real episodes, not just “sounds useful” feedback. What evidence has been most reliable for you before committing time to an idea?
@Ewerton_lp Before building, what would count as enough evidence that a channel can actually reach the right users: real conversations, sign-ups, or pre-orders?
@ihuzaifadev I’m still figuring this out too. When you tested a channel, what made you keep going with it: replies, returning users, sign-ups, or payments?
Founders: think about the last task on your startup that took much longer than you expected.
What were you trying to get done?
What made it take longer?