Get Paid or Die

'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' ;'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,'; 'I don't much care where';'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,'

Look at Juicero - they spent millions researching the "perfect" juice press, hired dozens of consumer researchers, only to discover nobody wanted to pay $400 for squeezing juice bags.

Let's try to be honest here: Market validation means one thing – payment. Not your customer saying "wow, amazing product!". Not some bullshit letter of intent.

In B2B? I want to see signed contracts and money in the bank. B2C? Show me credit card charges that stick. Everything else is just noise.

Oh, you're telling me "but our users love the product!" Great. Let me ask you two questions:

1. Did they pay you?

2. Did they bring friends who paid you?

If the answer is "no" to both, and you're not selling ads, let me introduce you to a magical concept called unit economics. You know, the basic idea that each user should bring more money than they cost? Shocking, I know. Your millions of "happy users" mean nothing if you're losing money on every single one of them.

Two Types of Companies Exist:

1. Premium / Heavy Capital: Take Apple. They built such a strong ecosystem and brand that they can charge $1,500 for a phone that costs maybe $400 to make. People still line up to buy it. When you achieve this position, you can operate differently. But here's the thing – you're not Apple. Almost nobody is.

2. The Rest: You're probably here. Constant competition. Margins under pressure. Someone's always trying to copy your product cheaper. You need to move fast, ship faster, and actually make money. There's no room for comfortable bullshit.

The Biggest Delusion

I see this all the time – companies from the second category pretending they're Apple. They hire "research teams" and "customer insight specialists" when they haven't even sold anything. It's pathetic.

Here's something even more absurd: Product Managers asking for researchers to "do their job." Let me be crystal clear – if your PM needs a researcher to understand your customers, they don't understand their own job description. Second best only the one who is constantly re-designing something ( ask them are they working together with designer to have better CV for the next job or what? )

A Product Manager's primary responsibility is to know the customer inside and out. If they're asking for researchers, they're essentially admitting they can't do their core function.

Think about it. Would you trust a sales manager who asks for someone else to talk to customers? A CFO who needs someone else to understand the financials? Then why accept a PM who needs someone else to understand the market?

I invested in a bunch of startups or solo-founders, and if a founder comes to me saying "we need to hire researchers to understand our customers," I'm done with the conversation.(Seen it only 1 time). Your job is to know your customers. Your job is to already have their money or have a very clear plan.
Everything else is excuses.

The Zero-Interest Fairytale is Over

For years, cheap money let companies pretend engagement matters more than revenue. Those days are done for now. You can't raise millions on nice PowerPoint slides anymore, maybe try with AI slides. Who knows, may be the landscape will change, but for now → that’s new reality.

Want to Survive? Do This:

1. Get Money First: Stop the research bullshit. Get pre-orders. Get deposits. Make customers pay you, even small amount. Real money changes everything.

2. Face Reality: You're not Apple. Accept it. Act accordingly.

3. Ship and Iterate: Long research phases = death. Ship something basic that people will pay for. Improve based on what paying customers say.

4. Watch the Money: Customer feedback without payment is worthless. I don't care if they "love" your product. Do they pay(directly or in-directly)? And if they pay, are you making or losing money on each transaction? Unit economics don't lie.

Yes, There Are Exceptions

Some deep tech companies need research phases. Fine. But you're probably not one of them. And even they eventually need to make money.

Yes, The New Reality

The market is changing. Investors want real business metrics, not your engagement statistics. The only metric that matters? Revenue. And not just any revenue – profitable revenue. Where each customer brings in more than they cost.

Here's your reality check: If you're reading this thinking "but our situation is different," it's not. You either get paid or you die. That's business.

Want to test if your business idea is good? Simple test: Are people paying you right now? Are they bringing other paying customers? Are you making money on each of them? No? Then stop whatever else you're doing and fix that first.

Everything else is just talking.