I would recommend the following approach: - As early on as possible, try and identify potential prospects who have the problem you are trying to solve, and simply learn from them and as you form ideas get their feedback. - Build quickly and get it out there. Ideally to both a combination of those who you had been talking to previously and completely new users. - Take feedback, iterate, release and repeat. Customers always give better feedback once they have something they can use, they will either confirm that you have built something that does address the problem, or they'll let you know where it falls short (and hopefully what you need to address that) The balancing act is trying not to invest too much time and resources into anything when you only have early stage feedback.

Talking to target customers, and surveying them would give you more insight into how big the pain point is. Try to figure out whether your solution will add 10x value or 5x value to their life. Also, research the industry. Is it a growing market? How big is the market size? Then build an MVP, get some beta testers, and keep iterating.

Talk to users as early as possible (don't wait to build a Taj Mahal out of your idea). While speaking to customers: (a) focus more on validating the problem statements rather than offering solutions (understand diff between discovery & sales) (b) speak less, listen more (c) Don't be carried away by the validations you received from F&F and your known circles. They will be generally good and encouraging whatever you do. We need objective ppl who are brutally honest in giving constructive feedbacks.

Find communities filled with what is supposed to be your target customer and try to ask for feedback :) then repeat

You can try to ask questions on the product hunt to validate your assumption. You can also try to outreach influencers in your niche and ask them for feedback about your idea. I personally like to use LinkedIn hashtag feeds to find this kind of person: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/ha... You can potentially use LinkedIn automation to make the outreach faster: https://medium.com/@fabian-maume...

You may use tool like Checkmyidea-IA to validate your idea. It will help you to : - Identify if your idea meets a real market need - What methods to test the viability of your idea quickly and at a low cost - Analyze competition for your idea - Determine if your idea is technically feasible with your skills - The needs and behaviors of your users - To market your idea and acquire your first users There are similar tools on the markets, but this is one is for modern webmarketing.