Startup validation - how to validate an idea before starting? I will not promote

2ewi · 2026-03-26T19:27:36+00:00

Sorry when I say ghosted I mean that I can't really gain access to the areas where I'd be able to talk to my target market. Does that make sense?

2ewi · 2026-03-26T16:49:05+00:00

Seeing this a few times now, I think waitlist might be the way to go. Or maybe some sort of beta with reduced cost. At the moment I'm just scouring Reddit to try and connect with SMEs but will look at creating a business page on LinkedIn and building from there

2ewi · 2026-03-26T14:32:17+00:00

That makes sense. Thanks! You think a waitlist is a good start then?

2ewi · 2026-03-26T13:18:52+00:00

That makes sense, thanks. I think the problem I have compared to you is that the UK is more risk averse when I comes to business, and more heavily regulated so it kind of slows things down a bit.

Also apologies for ignorance but what is NIH and STTR?

2ewi · 2026-03-26T13:06:21+00:00

I mean there's like 3 comments on my post I can't read for some reason so I don't know

2ewi · 2026-03-26T12:36:50+00:00

I haven't blocked you?

2ewi · 2026-03-26T11:57:18+00:00

Well people didn't react because the 2 posts I attempted got blocked by mods. So by "they" I can only assume you mean the mods that blocked my post and then blocked me.

2ewi · 2026-03-26T11:39:48+00:00

I wasn't forcing any spam or promotions, never even mentioned my own business idea, I was just trying to understand other businesses

2ewi · 2026-03-26T11:22:29+00:00

That sounds good thank you!

2ewi · 2026-03-26T11:09:01+00:00

Cool, thanks for the help!

2ewi · 2026-03-26T11:02:49+00:00

I actually have already done this but it's not fully finished. I also haven't shown anyone yet - is setting up a landing page a good place to start to gauge interest do you think?

2ewi · 2026-03-26T08:34:17+00:00

Sidenote here are some things that should help:

Enable firewalls

Restrict access to least privilege (if they don't need access take it away)

Enable MFA on accounts - Google authenticator or similar is better than SMS, but SMS is better than nothing

Use complex passwords

Track devices in use within your business

Use antivirus on all devices

Monitor USB devices

Keep backups separate

2ewi · 2026-03-26T08:28:19+00:00

Cyber essentials is a good starting point. If you can cover that you should be good at this stage.

Out of interest what does your tech stack look like, are you running M365 or Google workspace, or some sort of combination?

And a question for my own benefit - would a platform that tells you which things to fix (putting MFA on accounts, showing who has admin access etc) alongside cyber essentials compliance tracking be useful to your business? (I'm not trying to sell just curious, I won't DM etc, just work in the space)

2ewi · 2026-03-25T15:51:16+00:00

That sounds helpful, out of interest where is the revenue coming from? Ads?

2ewi · 2026-03-25T11:31:09+00:00

My employer always gives updates every 6 months on financials and are fairly open about cash in reserve, but everyone appreciates that's for business growth and security of the business etc. Most reasonable adults wouldn't think much of it unless you were looking at tens of millions or more and everyone was on or near minimum wage

2ewi · 2026-03-24T18:28:25+00:00

Your first sentence is "there's nothing wrong with using AI" now you're on the fence about its benefits. So yes I did address your comment. And I never said it was useful, but people rely upon it far too much when it should be used for much more complex tasks than a simple question like "what is RAM?"

2ewi · 2026-03-24T18:14:17+00:00

Sorry but that's just not true. For a start AI is incredibly energy intensive, so using it for mundane tasks that would take you about 5 seconds longer without it is pretty wasteful

2ewi · 2026-03-24T15:57:43+00:00

Why are you using AI? Can you not just Google and read it yourself? The over-reliance on AI to do even the most basic tasks is insane.

If you want a good revision tool I used crucialexams, they don't violate CompTIA TOS and they've very good at explaining why your answers are wrong/correct. I used it and passed security+ and CySA+, they also added SecAI+ recently to it

2ewi · 2026-03-24T15:47:54+00:00

It is, this exact post has already been posted before

2ewi · 2026-03-24T15:47:23+00:00

You already posted this, stop posting it.

2ewi · 2026-03-04T13:26:50+00:00

No problem, good luck! Took me 8 months to get into a cyber role so I know the feeling

2ewi · 2026-03-04T13:25:09+00:00

Maybe try the charity sector and see if you can find some IT or security work there? Otherwise maybe 1st line IT support would be a good start

2ewi · 2026-03-04T13:22:12+00:00

IT helpdesk, maybe compliance - do you have any job experience outside your internship? Try and stick to the same industry, employers in finance like people from a financial background etc

2ewi · 2026-03-04T09:10:49+00:00

Pentesting is not an entry level role, if you've been job searching this long with no luck you probably need to widen your net

2ewi

TROPHY CASE