In an early-stage startup, how do you decide which product to prioritize?

Question

My take:

Your goal is to build and hypothesis, you don't know yet which feature will answer a pain point critical enough for people to buy.

Every day of work counts and you can't afford to waste them, so always prioritize the most scalable feature.

By scalable I mean the one that brings a base structure on which you can iterate and reuse what you created.

What are your thoughts on that?

Accepted Answer

In the early stages of every startup, traction trumps everything. 
And when I think of traction I think of "sneezers early  adopters" validating your customer-problem-fit.

To know what product to prioritize make sure you have a good amount of sneezers in your target market who find your product as the solution to their most painful problem.

Once the sneezers buy-in to your product, they will lead the traction of your product and you will then know what to build or not build.

Leonor Montero · Answer

Understand your market. Research your target market to gain a deep understanding of their needs, preferences, and behaviors. I'd say this  helps you identify which product is most likely to resonate with your audience. Let me know what you think

Mei · Answer

Ask your customer what they need. Build what they need not what you think they need.

In an early-stage startup, how do you decide which product to prioritize?

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