Let’s face it — coming up with a great idea is the easy part.

It’s exciting, even addictive: the spark of inspiration, the rush of planning, the late nights spent sketching out your vision. But as any experienced entrepreneur will tell you, a brilliant idea is only the beginning.
The hard truth? Even the best ideas can fail if they never reach the right audience.

This is what’s known as the cold start problem — the challenge of gaining momentum when you have no users, no traction, and no buzz. It’s especially brutal for businesses that rely on network effects (like marketplaces or platforms), but the reality is: every founder has to solve this problem one way or another.

Here’s what I’ve learned about tackling the cold start and finding the right market — lessons drawn from my own journey and from watching countless others succeed (and fail).

1. Start With an MVP — and Keep It Simple
The most powerful tool you have early on? A Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

Popularized by Eric Ries, an MVP is a stripped-down version of your product that allows you to test assumptions, gather feedback, and learn what users actually want — all without burning through time and resources.

Your goal isn’t perfection. It’s progress.

Let your MVP be ugly. Let it be basic. But let it be real.

Release it for free if you can — just to get people using it. Even a few early adopters can give you priceless insights:

• Are they sticking around?

• What features do they actually use?

• What’s confusing or broken?

If your MVP doesn’t catch on? That’s data. It’s also a blessing — better to learn that now than after you’ve sunk months (or years) into something no one wants.

2. Build in a Hot Market

• You can build the best product in the world — but if the market isn’t ready, it won’t matter.
  
  Timing is everything.
  
  Take Instagram, which launched just as smartphone cameras and social media were taking off. Contrast that with Google Glass — a product that may have been ahead of its time, but missed the mark because the world just wasn’t ready for face-mounted tech.
  
  Look around: What’s trending? What are people excited (or worried) about? Right now, AI is booming. Remote collaboration, creator tools, and digital health are all hot, too. The key is to spot a wave — and ride it.
  
  Of course, hot markets also mean competition. But don’t let that scare you. If your product solves a real problem in a way others don’t, you’ll stand out.3. Follow the 50/50 Rule
  
  This one changed everything for me: Spend 50% of your time building, and 50% marketing.
  I know — if you’re a builder at heart, this stings. It did for me too.
  
  But if no one knows about your product, it might as well not exist.
  That means:
  

• Talking to your audience.

• Publishing content where they hang out.

• Running experiments to see what messages stick.

• Constantly asking for feedback and using it to improve.

At Jotform, we found huge success through blogging. We created valuable content our users wanted — and we published it on platforms they were already using. Marketing doesn’t have to be sleazy or salesy — it can be helpful, authentic, and creative.

And remember: it’s okay if your first idea flops. Every attempt teaches you something. Every failed launch is a step closer to one that takes off.

The idea matters. But the execution? That’s everything.