So here's what happened. We were running campaigns, watching our click metrics climb, feeling pretty good about performance. Then we started digging into where those clicks actually came from.
Half of them were bots.
Not simple ones either. Headless browsers mimicking human behavior perfectly. Selenium scripts automating clicks at scale. Click farms using mobile devices. Advanced stuff rotating IPs, spoofing geolocation, faking mouse movements, generating realistic referrer patterns. Fingerprinting evasion. Timing tricks. Some were so good they looked completely human.
We realized most link tools just count clicks. They don't ask if those clicks are real.
We re all builders here, which usually means at some point we looked at something clunky, slow, or frustrating and thought, there has to be a better way. Most products don t start with a grand vision; they start with irritation, curiosity, or firsthand pain.
I d love to learn more about how others here have navigated that journey:
How did you uncover the problem you decided to work on? What signals told you this problem was worth solving? How did you validate (if at all) whether people would actually pay for a solution? Has your product stayed true to the original problem, or did it evolve into something different? What surprised you the most along the way?
Share the name of your product, a brief description of how it will help the community, and your launch date, and let's support each other and hunt together. Let's get connected on Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/boyuan_qian
X (Twitter): https://x.com/boyuan_qian
I'm building something to solve a problem my family faces every single day, and I'd love your feedback.
The problem:
Every household has someone carrying the invisible mental load of meals. It's not the cooking that's exhausting it's the deciding. 21 meals a week. Remembering who eats what. Knowing what's in the fridge. Figuring out quick meals for busy nights.
This is probably one of the most debated topics in the startup world: Should you build an audience before you launch, or is it better to launch first and grow your audience afterward? I ve seen both approaches work, but each comes with its own set of challenges and rewards. - Building an audience first means you're creating buzz, validating your idea, and nurturing a community of early adopters who are invested in your success. But it takes time, patience, and a lot of effort to keep the momentum going before you even have a product to show. - Launching first lets you hit the ground running, gather real-world feedback, and iterate quickly. But without an existing audience, you might struggle to get those initial users and traction. So, indulge me: Which approach did you take or are you considering taking (those who haven't launched yet)? - Did you build an audience before launching your product, or did you launch and then focus on growth?
- What worked (or didn't work) for you?
- If you could go back, would you do it differently? Share your story with us so we can all learn from each other. There's someone here who could benefit from your experience. ----- P.S: If you're a growth-stage founder struggling with churn or stagnant customer acquisition (usually because of poor positioning and messaging), I'd love to help. I specialize in crafting impactful marketing strategies tailored specifically to your product so you can start seeing the results you deserve. Connect with me on LinkedIn today. Can't wait to hear from you!
