Before writing a single line of code, Steven Bartel and his co-founder Nick Bushak spoke with 50 potential customers in just six weeks. They knew that building a product without understanding the real needs of the market was a recipe for failure. By validating their ideas early, they set Gem on a path to success, ensuring it would solve the right problems for the right people.
This deep commitment to customer feedback wasn’t just about gathering opinions—it was about truly understanding the pain points of talent leaders and recruiters. That relentless focus helped Gem create an AI-powered recruiting platform that now serves over 1,200 companies, including industry giants like Wayfair and Dropbox.
In the rush to build the next big thing, too many entrepreneurs skip the most important step: listening. Steven’s approach reminds us all that the foundation of any great product is real conversations with the people who will ultimately benefit from it.
How are you making sure your product solves the right problem?
