Innovators often ask me straight-up whether their groundbreaking product is likely to succeed.

Here’s my answer:

Go find 10 ideal buyers who aren’t friends or relatives. Try to sell them your product at full price, face-to-face.

If you can sell 5 or more units, you’re in good shape.

3-4 sales? Not bad — you’ve got something worth refining.

1-2 sales means it’s going to be a struggle.

And if you can’t sell it to anyone in person, you’re probably in trouble.

This simple test reveals more about your product’s viability than any focus group, survey, or market research report.

Face-to-face sales strip away all the digital marketing magic tricks. No compelling copy, no targeted ads, no social proof widgets.

Just you, your product, and someone deciding whether they want to exchange money for what you’re offering.

The unfiltered honesty of this interaction exposes exactly where your product concept succeeds or fails.

Is your value proposition super-clear?

Does your pricing make sense?

Are you targeting the right people?

Do they really experience the problem you think you’re solving, and feel they need a solution?

If you can’t convince someone to buy your product when you’re standing right there to answer questions, demonstrate benefits, and address objections, what the heck makes you think a website or digital ad will do better?

Online stores and digital advertising don’t possess magical selling powers.

They’re amplification tools that work best when you’ve already proven your core product-market fit through direct human interaction.

In I Need That, I discuss how the most successful products create that crucial moment when customers think “I need that”—not “that’s interesting” or “that’s clever,” but genuine need. The 10-person test reveals whether you’ve achieved that psychological shift.

Product Payoff: Jamie Siminoff, founder of Ring, spent months going door-to-door in his neighborhood, demonstrating his video doorbell concept and asking neighbors to buy prototypes. This direct selling approach revealed crucial insights about installation concerns, pricing sensitivity, and feature priorities that surveys never could have uncovered.

The face-to-face feedback shaped Ring’s product development and go-to-market strategy, ultimately leading to Amazon’s $1 billion acquisition. Siminoff’s willingness to sell personally validated both the product concept and his understanding of customer needs before scaling through digital channels.

Action for today: If you haven’t done the 10-person test, do it this week. Choose people who represent your target market but have no obligation to be polite about your product. Track not just whether they buy, but what questions they ask, what objections they raise, and how they describe the value in their own words.

This feedback will either confirm you’re ready to scale or reveal exactly what needs fixing before you invest in digital marketing.

The market will tell you everything you need to know — if you’re brave enough to ask directly.

Have you tested your product through direct, face-to-face sales? Tap that reply arrow and share what you learned about your product’s real-world appeal when stripped of marketing enhancement.

Or reach out to my team of product validation specialists at Graphos Product.