--- title: I Watched Three Founders Waste a Combined $180,000 on... description: Three founders collectively spent $180,000 building software that failed not because the problems were fake, but because they validated the problem without... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-watched-three-founders-waste-a-combined-180-000-on-software-nobody-used-vih4dwi9a twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I Watched Three Founders Waste a Combined $180,000 on Software Nobody Used | daily.dev og:description: Three founders collectively spent $180,000 building software that failed not because the problems were fake, but because they validated the problem without... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-watched-three-founders-waste-a-combined-180-000-on-software-nobody-used-vih4dwi9a og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/viH4DWi9A.png og:image:alt: I Watched Three Founders Waste a Combined $180,000 on Software Nobody Used og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I Watched Three Founders Waste a Combined $180,000 on Software Nobody Used **[Medium](https://daily.dev/sources/medium_js)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Three founders collectively spent $180,000 building software that failed not because the problems were fake, but because they validated the problem without validating the workflow. The core lesson: confirming a problem exists is not the same as confirming people will change their behavior to solve it. The fix is asking specific, uncomfortable questions before writing any code — specifically about what users do today, why their current approach isn't good enough, and what it would take to make them switch. Workflow validation through direct user conversations is cheaper and more revealing than any market research report. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the difference between validating a problem and validating a workflow before building a startup product? Validating a problem means confirming that a pain point exists, while validating a workflow means confirming that people will actually change their current behavior to adopt a new solution. Three founders spent a combined $180,000 building software after validating real problems, but each failed because users would not change existing habits, workarounds, or tools to switch, resulting in low or no adoption despite genuine need. _Anyone weighing whether a product idea is worth building can compare founder lessons like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Validate your startup idea before you build: A guide for founders](https://daily.dev/posts/validate-your-startup-idea-before-you-build-a-guide-for-founders-1kyngjjqr) · Curiosum · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Why Your SaaS is Dying in the "Validation Theater" Trap \(And How to Fix It\)](https://daily.dev/posts/why-your-saas-is-dying-in-the-validation-theater-trap-and-how-to-fix-it--2dcuuqxdy) · Medium · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#startup](https://daily.dev/tags/startup), [#product-management](https://daily.dev/tags/product-management) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-watched-three-founders-waste-a-combined-180-000-on-software-nobody-used-vih4dwi9a) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I Watched Three Founders Waste a Combined $180,000 on Software Nobody Used","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-watched-three-founders-waste-a-combined-180-000-on-software-nobody-used-vih4dwi9a","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-watched-three-founders-waste-a-combined-180-000-on-software-nobody-used-vih4dwi9a"},"datePublished":"2026-07-12T12:17:16.022Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:49:30.230Z","description":"Three founders collectively spent $180,000 building software that failed not because the problems were fake, but because they validated the problem without...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7a62993a6de440185570d4eb18d5f02d?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7a62993a6de440185570d4eb18d5f02d?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Medium","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Medium","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/medium","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/medium_js"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-watched-three-founders-waste-a-combined-180-000-on-software-nobody-used-vih4dwi9a","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"startup,product-management","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Medium","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/medium_js"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I Watched Three Founders Waste a Combined $180,000 on Software Nobody Used"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-watched-three-founders-waste-a-combined-180-000-on-software-nobody-used-vih4dwi9a#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the difference between validating a problem and validating a workflow before building a startup product?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Validating a problem means confirming that a pain point exists, while validating a workflow means confirming that people will actually change their current behavior to adopt a new solution. Three founders spent a combined $180,000 building software after validating real problems, but each failed because users would not change existing habits, workarounds, or tools to switch, resulting in low or no adoption despite genuine need. Anyone weighing whether a product idea is worth building can compare founder lessons like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```