Should a consumer product startup validate retail buyer interest before building up inventory?

2026-02-25 · Lounge

That's an easy one: validate interest first.

Walk in with a tight story, clear wholesale terms, and a sample (or a small “founder batch”), not pallets. Get real signals: customer demand, retail reorder intent, shelf placement, price tolerance, and objections. Then produce to confirmed demand.

Inventory without pull is just overconfidence and an expensive lesson.

Public Hand Raises only. Questions anonymized; answers are Marc Randolph's mentorship responses with names redacted.