The Market Research Paradox
Early-stage founders face a dilemma: You need market research to validate your idea, but you don't have budget to spend thousands on traditional surveys.
The good news? You don't need to spend a fortune. Modern tools like AI-powered simulated surveys can give you high-confidence data for a fraction of traditional research costs.
Budget Guidelines by Stage
Pre-launch (Ideation): $0-500/month. Focus on free/low-cost validation. Use TestSynthia for rapid, affordable market testing.
MVP phase: $500-2,000/month. Test different positioning, pricing, and feature priorities. Run multiple market simulations.
Post-launch: $2,000-5,000/month. Continuously test new messaging, personas, and feature roadmap priorities with market data.
Scale: $5,000+/month. Invest in deeper customer research, competitive analysis, and market segmentation studies.
Where to Invest First
Start with problem validation. If nobody has the problem, everything else is wasted budget.
Then test value proposition. Does your solution resonate? What messaging converts best?
Finally, optimize pricing and feature prioritization. These iterations should be informed by market data, not guesses.