“I email them all and I offer them 90% discount on a pre-sale before I build anything and then if I get five sales I build the first MVP.”

Sell Before You Build Using Presales to Confirm Real Demand

After generating 100 waitlist signups, John offers a 90% discounted pre-sale before writing a single line of code. The five-sale threshold acts as a minimum viable signal that real money — not just interest — exists. This filters out ideas that attract curiosity but not commitment.