How to Find Strong Market Signals Before You Build
Zain Abiddin
Built subscriptions at Canva | Ex-Shopify | Founder, GrowthPad
Find the signal before you build.
Most products don't fail because founders can't build. They fail because they build something customers don't need badly enough to pay for.
A compelling idea, a few enthusiastic conversations, and a growing market don't necessarily mean you have a business.
The real question: What evidence tells you an opportunity is worth pursuing?
In this practical, self-paced workshop, you'll learn how to identify meaningful market signals, distinguish genuine customer demand from noise, and evaluate opportunities before committing significant time or money.
Built from the GrowthPad approach to product discovery and growth.
What you'll learn
Spot real market demand. Identify customer problems, buying behaviours, and market changes that may signal a valuable opportunity.
Separate strong signals from weak ones. Understand why compliments, survey responses, and social engagement can be misleading.
Find customers who are already looking for solutions. Identify observable demand rather than relying only on what people say they want.
Evaluate opportunities systematically. Use a practical worksheet to compare problems, document evidence, and prioritise your next experiments.
Know what to test next. Translate your findings into concrete validation experiments before investing in a full product.
What's included
1. Market Signals Workshop Deck
The presentation covering the core frameworks, examples, and tactics for discovering and evaluating market opportunities.
2. Interactive Market Signals Worksheet
A practical worksheet you can use to evaluate your own ideas, record evidence, compare opportunities, and define what to validate next.
3. On-Demand Workshop Recording
Watch the session at your own pace and revisit the frameworks as you evaluate new product ideas.
Who this is for
Founders and aspiring entrepreneurs deciding what to build next.
Product managers and growth leaders exploring new opportunities.
Indie hackers and AI builders trying to validate an idea before building.
Operators and innovators evaluating new markets or revenue opportunities.
Your outcome
By the end, you'll have a structured method for assessing market signals, a worksheet for evaluating your own opportunity, and a clearer set of experiments to run next.
Don't spend months building based on assumptions. Start with evidence.