Forem: Shashank Rajurkar

Why Developers Should Validate Ideas Before Writing Code

Shashank Rajurkar — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 03:35:22 +0000

Most developers love building.

So when they get an idea, the instinct is simple:

Open editor → Start coding

It feels productive.

But it’s often the fastest way to waste weeks.

The Real Problem

The issue isn’t speed.

It’s direction.

You can build something quickly…

…and still build the wrong thing.

What Usually Happens

The typical flow looks like this:

Idea → Build → Launch → No users

Not because the product is bad.

Because the idea was never validated.

What “Validation” Actually Means

Validation is not:

“Do you like this idea?”

That always gets polite answers.

Real validation is:

“Is this a painful problem you already have?”

Big difference.

The 48-Hour Validation Framework

You don’t need weeks.

You can validate most ideas in 48 hours.

Day 1 — Find the Problem

Go where your users already are:

dev communities
GitHub discussions
Discord / Slack groups
forums / Reddit

Look for:

repeated complaints
workarounds
frustrations

That’s where real ideas come from.

Day 2 — Test the Idea

Instead of building, do this:

describe your solution simply
share it with potential users
ask for reactions

Example:

“I’m thinking of building a tool that does X.
Would this solve your problem?”

Watch how people respond.

The Signal You’re Looking For

You’re not looking for:

compliments
encouragement

You’re looking for:

interest
questions
specific feedback

Even better:

“Can I try this?”

That’s validation.

Why This Saves You Time

Skipping validation leads to:

weeks of coding
↓
no users

Validation leads to:

2 days of learning
↓
clear direction

A Better Way to Build

Instead of:

Idea → Code → Hope

Try:

Problem → Validation → Build → Users

This small shift changes everything.

Key Insight

Most failed side projects don’t fail because of execution.

They fail because of *wrong assumptions.
*
Validation helps you fix that early.

Final Thought

Writing code is easy.

Building something people actually use is hard.

Validation is the bridge between the two.

Question for Developers

Before building your last project:

Did you validate the idea?
Or did you jump straight into coding?

The First 10 Users Playbook for Developers

Shashank Rajurkar — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 03:49:14 +0000

Key insight:

You don't need 1000 users to learn.

You need 10 users who actually care.

Most developers think they need thousands of users.

You don’t.

You need 10.

The first 10 users matter more than the first 1,000.

Why?

Because those users teach you what the market actually wants.

Why Developers Struggle With Early Users

Most developer projects follow this pattern:

build product → launch → hope users appear

But users rarely appear out of nowhere.

Even great tools need intentional discovery.

The goal at the beginning isn’t scale.

It’s learning.

Step 1-Find People With the Problem

Before worrying about growth, find people who actually experience the problem you're solving.

Good places to start:

developer communities
niche Slack or Discord groups
GitHub discussions
subreddit communities

Look for people already discussing the issue.

You don’t need thousands.

Just a few conversations.

Step 2 - Solve a Very Small Problem

One mistake developers make is building something too big.

Instead of creating a full platform, solve a single painful problem.

Example:

Instead of building:

a complete project management tool

Start with:

a simple GitHub issue prioritization helper

Smaller problems are easier to validate.

Step 3 - Share With the Right Communities

Your first users usually come from communities where people already care about the problem.

Examples:

dev forums
GitHub communities
niche Discord servers
indie hacker groups

When sharing, focus on the problem you solved, not just the product.

Step 4 - Talk to Early Users

The first users give you something more valuable than growth.

They give you feedback.

Ask them:

what confused them
what they expected the product to do
what feature would make it significantly better

These conversations shape the product.

Step 5 -Improve Quickly

Early traction is about iteration.

Your first version doesn’t need to be perfect.

It needs to be good enough to learn from users.

Small improvements based on real feedback often lead to bigger traction later.

Why the First 10 Users Matter

The first users are not just customers.

They are:

feedback direction momentum

Without them, you’re guessing.

With them, you’re learning.

Final Thought

Most successful products didn’t start with massive launches.

They started with a few people who found the product useful.

Focus on those first users.

Everything else builds from there.

Question for developers:

What was the hardest part of getting your first users?

• finding users
• explaining the product
• getting feedback

Why Most Developer Side Projects Never Get Users

Shashank Rajurkar — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:23:01 +0000

Most developers think:

Better code → more users

Reality:

Code + Distribution → Users

Most developers have at least one of these.

A side project that took weeks (sometimes months) to build.

Clean architecture.
Nice UI.
Thoughtful code.

And yet…

0 users.

Not because the product was bad.

But because of one missing skill.

Distribution.

The Common Path Most Developers Take

It usually looks like this:

Idea → Code → Launch → Hope for users

You work on the product in the evenings.

You polish features.

You finally launch.

Then…

Nothing happens.

No signups.
No feedback.
No traction.

The Problem Isn’t the Code

Developers are trained to optimize for things like:

performance

scalability

architecture

clean code

Those things matter.

But when it comes to products, they’re only half the equation.

What actually determines traction is this:

Code + Distribution = Users

Without distribution, even great products stay invisible.

The Internet Is Full of Invisible Products

There are thousands of:

useful dev tools

clever side projects

beautifully designed apps

that nobody uses.

Not because they’re bad.

Because nobody knows they exist.

A Different Way to Think About Building

Instead of this:

Build → find users

Try this:

Find users → build solution

Start with the people.

Understand the problem.

Then build something small that solves it.

A Skill Developers Rarely Learn

Developers spend years learning:

programming languages

frameworks

system design

But almost nobody teaches:

how to get users.

This is essentially Go-To-Market thinking for developers.

What I’m Exploring

I’m interested in the space between:

code → traction

How developers turn:

side projects into real products

tools into startups

code into users

In upcoming posts, I’ll share ideas and experiments around what I call Developer GTM - practical ways developers can launch products and find their first users.

If you’re building things and wondering how to get traction, this might be useful.

I'm exploring Developer GTM - how developers go from code → traction.

If you're building side projects, I'd love to hear:
What was the hardest part about getting your first users?