Why founders think validation means built landing pages

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Most founders confuse validation with landing pages. A signup form doesn’t prove product-market fit—it proves marketing copy. Words don’t validate behaviour. Code does. Ship a microflow with payment or signup. Then watch if it hooks someone.

Validation becomes marketing when you build a landing page and call it progress.

You craft headlines. You add bullet points. You ask for emails. But asking isn’t hooking. Collecting email doesn’t mean your product solved a problem—it means your copy resonated.

True validation demands behaviour.
It demands a microflow. Something simple that a user can actually do.

It could be:

  • A real pricing page with a working button.
  • An onboarding widget that tracks first-time use.
  • A micro landing + signup flow that charges or converts instantly.

These aren’t marketing wins.

They’re behavioural wins.

Why?
Because they prove users took action.

A landing page earns you attention.
A microflow earns you insight.

Which one do founders in YC or Techstars celebrate?

Not the email list built on copy — but the ones paying.

They don’t hack growth. They pressure test behaviour.

So skip the validation site.

Ship a micro-product.

And watch what people actually do.