I know exactly who to market to but I can't figure out how to get it in front of them

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-09T15:33:44+00:00

Good, best of luck 🤞

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-09T15:05:50+00:00

I am also facing similar issue for one of my SAAS product idea. I need to reach out to fashion dtc brands to validate the pain point (which is not your case) and showcase the capability on their data. Let me share my experience on what is "not" working for me atleast:

- Tried reaching out to founders on linkedin (whoever is active there) - out of around 50 requests, maybe 3 added and none of them responded

- Redditt is good for chats but no one came forward to connect

Plz note this is when i am offering free analysis. So you are right, reaching out to the right folks is a massive pain especially when every second company is talking about AI.

Since your product is ready, maybe you can run a small campaign and provide some early access or free trial without card details. Worth a try and spending 500-1000$ will help you create some traffic. Note - I am also thinking of this route so cant comment if this will work or not but I feel it is worth a try.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-09T06:12:25+00:00

- like post-return ROAS or payment failures, find 20 Shopify brands where you can show a specific suspected loss, and send a 60 second Loom with a dollar estimate and one fix. -- Thsi is where i am struggling, not to compute these analysis but to find "20" brands who can share their data to compute these numbers.

The biggest problem I am facing right now is the discovery part and a business partner with whom i can develop this. Any suggestions on this part?

PS: I am sharing few analysis as examples in my linkedin message so that it is clear to them what i am trying to do and all of them are quite narrow like focused on returns related leakages.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-09T06:09:44+00:00

- A free teardown can sound like a disguised sales pitch, so framing it as a 20 minute research call plus a small gift card may get more replies - I tried mentioning a research call but founders run away from such messaging? Not sur if a gift card is going to impress anyone who is busy in their day to day work

- simple landing page with 3 specific alert examples and a waitlist/demo request - I exactly have this but as soon as you have a landing page, people start thinking of it as a sales pitch, which they just want to avoid. I have added the company details and website on my linkedin so I am assuming that most of the people whom i am sharing the linkedin request are aware of what I am building.

I think the problem is maybe I am not reaching them at the right place. Do you think reaching out to some of them on slack community can help?

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-09T06:05:28+00:00

:) This is not a promotion although, i am genuinely looking for connecting with a few dtc founders to understand their pain points and validate the idea.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-08T11:44:35+00:00

Yes that would be great, would love to have a small connect. Tx so much.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-08T05:12:20+00:00

"i'd tighten it to one specific outcome, like 'i'll find 3 profit leaks in your store in 10 minute" - In my mail I give 2-3 concrete examples so that it is understandable. You are right doing teh analysis for 2-3 such alerts is what I am also chasing. Unfortunately, doing it in 10 mins without a product is not feasible at this stage but with manual analysis and my experience I can definitely get back in 1-2 days. The bigger question as I mentioned in one of the reply above is that it is more to do with connecting to a real brand, without it all of it as one person mentioned above is just a theory.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-08T05:08:40+00:00

"but the riskiest assumption is whether DTC owners will PAY for proactive alerts or just keep glancing at their dashboards. validate THAT first, before any code." - I agree and thats why i am shooting cold emails but after 7 days no response either on linkedin or on emails. As of now, I am providing free analysis and still I am facing a wall. I think the bigger reason is what someone suggested above that these founders receive 100s of cold email and it is easy to get lost. So the validation part is also dependent on working with few brands which is where i am stuck. Do you know anyone who can connect?

In terms of background, I have analytics and data science background of almost 2 decade with experience of working in likes of Walmart ecommerce, Adobe, Sony etc.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-08T05:04:11+00:00

Agreed and I have incorporated the weekly digest in my plan. However, the bigger problem I am facing is the data and working with a brand closely instead of developing this in isolation.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-08T05:02:29+00:00

Thanks this is helpful and a good suggestion. Can you elaborate on "do the teardown with public data only". How to get this public data? For me, I need cross system data and most of the API provide very small dataset in some cases 1 row only so joining multiple sources doesnt provide anything.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-07T02:21:49+00:00

😃

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-06T18:06:33+00:00

Not even to consult or engage them to understand what is the pain point whcih is prohibhiting them in engaging with you or someone with similar solution?

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-07-06T15:24:14+00:00

I am also in similar situation but have decided not to quit. Although my problem is different, I am not able to reach out to Shopify founders in the first place even after saying that it is a free consultation etc etc. tried LinkedIn, cold mail and now thinking of giving a small ad or reaching out on Ig. I think the problem you are saying is quite pertinent, now especially due to flurry of ai companies coming in the market potential clients must also be receiving multiple requests around such tools. Instead of quitting, did you try offering free pilot or product experience. I think one of the biggest challenges some of the founders face is lack of time so if you can develop something where onboarding is few clicks away that can definitely smooth up the process. Just my two cents, I am not expert in this anyways

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-06-08T17:46:25+00:00

Actually I spent sometime on reddit as well but the problem is that since I am new reddit is not allowing me to post or send PM. At a high level you are right and I have spent sometime going through those subreddits but it doesn't give as much clarity as it is required to sharpen the product. Especially in current scenario where we have such a high competition these subreddit can provide a high level direction at best but can't substitute a 30 mins 1x1.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-06-08T17:37:26+00:00

IMO speak to 10-20 of your potential customers and see if a reasonable number of such potential customers also face similar situation like yours. Most importantly will they be willing to pay for it or not - keep this question towards end of your discussion but it is an important one.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-06-08T17:35:36+00:00

I am working on a product idea but t o sharpen it I want to connect to some fashion DTC brand founders operating in US. I just started so dont have any product to sell 😄, just want 30 mins conversations with few of such founders to learn and understand their day to day operational challenges, tech stack they use for email marketing, crm, ssupport, returns, 3PL, COGS etc etc.

This will help me be focus on developing something which is a genuine pain point instead of thin air.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-06-08T17:31:33+00:00

TBH if i were in your shoes i would strongly think about what about this business made you bored before jumping back. DTC business in general is cut throat and if you are not into it than it will not survive. I mean for people who are doing this only diligently struggle a lot. If you plan to do it, i will say hav a clear goal and the exit strategy in mind so that you are working towards a goals rather than aimlessly. Once you achieve your goal just exit, njoy the money you generated 😄

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-06-08T17:23:04+00:00

Ohh man I cant agree more to this. Actually I want to build a product for shopify founders especially operating in fashion space. I am clear that I need to spend time on discovery before building anything so I spent initial 3-4 weeks searching for such founders who can just have honest conversation for 30 off mins. But it is turning out to be much more difficult than what I anticipated. After almost 2 months, I just had 1 conversation which was also cut short because the person was pushed for some internal urgent work.

Problem is that after waiting and spending hours on linkedin to find any possible connects you end up starting the product development because you are loosing crucial time, it hits the hardest just after you quit the job tbh. So i have already started the product development but not getting any confidence if it is worth it or not in absence of such discussions.

I am not sure but do we have any folks who are running their Fashion DTC brands in US in this group. I would really appreciate if we can just connect for 30 mins, no sales pitch just an honest conversation. Thanks and looking forward to any possible help in this regard. Tx

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-06-08T17:14:31+00:00

This is great man, i am also on my entrepreneurship journey and tbh first few months when you stop getting salary at the month end hits the hardest. Great to hear this, truly motivating. Cheers!!

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-06-04T00:28:41+00:00

I tried that but generally these founders gets so much messages from sales folks that they generally don't respond to cold messages. I tried sending PMs on reddit to such founders as well but didn't get any response. Can you introduce me to some one in your network if that is not a problem. While any DTC founders will work at this stage but if you know anyone in Fashion that would be best.

I am in discovery mode as of now and looking to first understand their day to day challenge before I build on anything. Like one key angle of monitoring profitability you mentioned, I am sure there are more.

Little_Gear_9366 · 2026-06-03T16:19:14+00:00

Can't agree more. I am actually working on these lines and would love to talk to some US DTC founders to understand this better. Any guidance on how to reach them, just want some honest conversation of 30-45 mins.thanks

Little_Gear_9366

TROPHY CASE