How I validated my MVP and earned $60k within a year of its launch

$60,000 might not be a big deal, but earning through a product you created gives you and the product a sense of validation. I hope this helps anyone looking to validate their MVP.

My co-founder and I started building our Saas in 2021.

The thought:
We created a product that solved the issue that we had been continuously facing. We did our research, and there was no practical solution available back then in the market. No, AI couldn't code back then. It was just two of us (hardcore techies) with no knowledge of sales.

First Version:
By May 2022, our simple MVP was ready to launch.

Product Hunt Launch:
We launched our first version ever on Product Hunt with no expectation whatsoever. We received 24 comments in total, ranked 6 for the day. We weren't expecting any sales; we just wanted to know if the product we were making was in demand or not. We didn't get any sales, but we did get around 50 users who created an account on our platform. We tracked each one of them and grinned happily when they spent time exploring our product.

The comments we received were all positive, assuring us that we were on the right path, and that was enough for us to keep moving on it.

Feedback Filtered & Implemented:
We continuously filtered and refined our product based on our users' feedback. Remember, do not take all the feature suggestions; only go with the ones that make sense to you.

Product Hunt Launch:
On 20th January 2023, we relaunched a better version of our product. Received better response and even made it to ProductHunt official Twitter post, where they promote the products they like. No, money is not involved.
Some users with massive followers on X mentioned our product as "SAAS which broke the internet this week." We were ecstatic. We gained a lot of users and around 128 new paid monthly subscribers.

Appsumo Launch
Finally, we listed our product on a platform known to sell LTD or Lifetime Deals. We were approached by them for their Select program. Appsumo's launch gave us the exposure we needed.
Made $60K+ sales in the span of two months. Plus, the exposure we received was massive.
Today, our product (BlogHunch) has a good user base. We are serving 6K+ Businesses, proving our product is now market validated.

Summary
To validate BlogHunch, we followed a lean approach:

1. Confirmed the Problem: We identified a gap in the market through our own struggles and verified it with research.
2. Launched a Simple MVP: Our Product Hunt launch in May 2022 attracted 50 sign-ups and 24 positive comments, confirming initial demand.
3. Listened and Iterated: We filtered user feedback to refine the product, focusing only on features aligned with our vision.
4. Relaunched with Confidence: The January 2023 Product Hunt launch brought 128 paid subscribers, proving a stronger market fit.
5. Scaled with AppSumo: The $60K+ in sales from the AppSumo launch validated our product for solopreneurs and bloggers.

All of that, but here is the truth: In 2023, we were in a phase where we were trying to find the right target audience for our product.

Reason? We were clear about our audience before the launch, but we made a mistake.
We listened to every feature suggestion and launched it. We sought "too" much validation from outside.

That was a HUGE mistake.

It pushed our growth (since we were trapped in our development cycle) and blurred our product's vision. I think this is something a lot of entrepreneurs deal with.

Today, BlogHunch has found its place among "Small & Medium Enterprises," and we are sticking to it.

Remember, Market Validation is important, but Your Vision & "Why" you started it are equally important.

Don't be too busy perfecting your product while your competitors take away your customers.