# Problem-audience building before product ships

> Build a following by publicly discussing the problem you plan to solve — not your product — so your first 100 users come from relationships forged in communities before launch day.

- Canonical HTML: https://growth.iangoh.com/growth-ideas/problem-audience-building-before-product-ships/
- Source: [reddit.com](https://www.reddit.com/r/SaaS/comments/1racqrj/the_best_saas_marketing_strategy_in_2026_costs_0/)
- GrowthDex source hub: [reddit.com](/sources/reddit-com-reddit-com/)
- Last checked: March 23, 2026
- Rarity: rare
- Budget: free
- Channels: Communities, LinkedIn, Reddit
- Stages: pre-launch, 0-100


## Why this can grow

People follow problems they recognize, not products they haven't tried. By framing content around a shared pain point, the founder attracts an audience with built-in purchase intent. Conversations also double as customer research, surfacing language and objections that shape better positioning. This is distinct from build-in-public, which centers on the product journey; problem-first content centers on the audience's lived experience and earns trust before a product even exists.

## Ian's take

From scaling consumer platforms across MENA and Southeast Asia, my default is to distrust growth work that only looks good in a slide. I would treat this as earning the right to be in the room, not dropping a campaign into a room. In community-led growth, the first job is to notice what people already care about, then bring a useful proof, tool, teardown, or question that makes the conversation better. I would run it small enough to learn quickly, then only scale the parts that real users repeat, save, reply to, or buy from. For this tactic, I would watch one clear growth signal before putting more time or budget behind it.

## Action plan

1. Define one narrow startup segment where problem-audience building before product ships can create a measurable lift.
2. Turn the tactic into one offer, page, campaign, or workflow for the Communities and LinkedIn channel.
3. Use the evidence from reddit.com to set the first version of the message, format, and audience.
4. Launch a small test for 7 to 14 days with one success metric: one measurable growth signal.
5. Review the result, keep the winning message, remove weak variants, and turn the learning into a repeatable growth playbook.

## Source-backed example

SaaS founder on r/SaaS (March 2026, post titled 'The BEST SaaS marketing strategy in 2026 costs $0') — described the full playbook: talk about the problem publicly, share the messy decisions and mistakes (not changelogs), and let conversations in DMs and comment threads convert into early users. Reported building the entire pre-launch audience with zero budget solely from showing up daily and being useful in communities, with first 100 users coming entirely from relationships, not ads, SEO, or viral moments.

## Adjacent tactics in the same lane

- [Build-in-public vulnerability threads](/growth-ideas/build-in-public-vulnerability-threads/) - same source, 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Competitor mention hijacking](/growth-ideas/competitor-mention-hijacking/) - same source, 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [One-to-many content repurposing pipeline](/growth-ideas/one-to-many-content-repurposing-pipeline/) - same source, 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Hobby-first community immersion before building](/growth-ideas/hobby-first-community-immersion-before-building/) - same source, 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage

## Read GrowthDex essays

Browse the plain-English essay index at [GrowthDex Blog](/blog/).

## Related GrowthDex essays

- [The community should know you before the launch asks](/blog/the-community-should-know-you-before-the-launch-asks/) - community-led growth, operator-led distribution, brand trust

## Advisory

If you want help turning this into a working growth system, Ian Goh offers advisory at https://iangoh.com/advisory.