The Discovery Call: 10 Questions Every Founder Should Answer Before Building

Here's a sobering stat: 42% of startups fail because there's no market need for their product. Not because of bad code. Not because of poor marketing. Because they built something nobody wanted.

The kicker? Most of these failures are preventable.

After hundreds of discovery calls at F5, I've noticed a pattern. Founders who can't answer certain questions clearly are almost always the ones who pivot three months in—or worse, burn through their runway building a product that never finds traction.

Here are the 10 questions every founder should answer before writing a single line of code.

1. What specific problem are you solving, and for whom?

Why it matters: Vague problems lead to vague solutions. "Making communication easier" isn't a problem—it's a category.

2. How do people solve this problem today?

Why it matters: If you don't understand the current workaround, you don't understand the problem.

3. Why is now the right time for this solution?

Why it matters: Timing accounts for a huge portion of startup success. What's changed that makes this possible or necessary now?

4. Who is your ideal first customer?

Why it matters: "Everyone" is not a customer segment. Get specific about company size, industry, role, and behavioral patterns.

5. What does success look like for your users?

Why it matters: Features are means, not ends. Good answers are measurable and tied to business outcomes.

6. What's the smallest version that delivers real value?

Why it matters: If you can't describe your MVP in one sentence, it's too big.

7. How will you validate demand before building?

Why it matters: Pre-selling, landing page signups, or customer interviews are cheaper than building the wrong thing.

8. What's your unfair advantage?

Why it matters: Domain expertise, proprietary data, unique distribution, or exceptional team credentials all count.

9. What are the 3 biggest risks to this business?

Why it matters: Founders who can't articulate risks either haven't thought deeply enough or are overly optimistic.

10. Why are you the right person to build this?

Why it matters: 23% of startups fail because the team isn't right. Domain expertise matters.

The Bottom Line

Here's what separates founders who build successful products from those who don't: clarity before code.

The discovery call isn't about having all the answers—it's about knowing which questions matter and being honest about what you don't know yet.