Some people actually think you should do the reverse -- do 2 & 3 before you do 1 & 4.<p>If you're just looking for ideas that <i>seem</i> like they might work, boy do I have the shameless plug for you[0][1].<p>But jokes aside, selling before you build is basically the best advice anyone can give, and it's repeated quite often but you just have to learn it yourself.<p>There's also tactical stuff like The Mom Test to teach you how to <i>actually</i> figure out what people need (and will pay you for), but the best strategic advice might be building audiences before you launch.<p>This is basically what all the "building in public" people do, and while I don't know that I'm a fan of the execution, it's an excellent tactic.<p>[EDIT] Just to explain what I meant by that first sentence more -- a lot of people believe in not even selling before you build, but being mostly market driven -- as in, spend time talking to 50 real estate agents you know to <i>figure out</i> what you could sell them before you even start selling or (even later on) building.<p>It's a really powerful strategy and you know it when you see it -- when you see serial founders that seem to go from industry to completely unrelated industry and build huge companies in a relatively short time, it's obvious they've mastered the market-first approach.<p>[0]: <a href="https://unvalidated-ideas.vadosware.io/editions/008" rel="nofollow">https://unvalidated-ideas.vadosware.io/editions/008</a><p>[1]: <a href="https://unvalidated-ideas.vadosware.io" rel="nofollow">https://unvalidated-ideas.vadosware.io</a>