Most Startups Build the Wrong Product First
June 17, 2025
In this episode of SaaS That App: Building B2B Web Applications, Aaron Marchbanks and Justin Edwards are joined by Wayne Neale, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Founders Workshop, to explore his proven 5D Process for turning ideas into successful software products.
In this episode of SaaS That App: Building B2B Web Applications, Aaron Marchbanks and Justin Edwards are joined by Wayne Neale, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Founders Workshop, to explore his proven 5D Process for turning ideas into successful software products.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to validate software ideas through ethnographic research
- The 5D framework for systematically developing B2B software
- Why human-centered design should drive technology decisions, not the other way around
- How to define the right MVP using the Functionality-Usability-Desirability Triangle
- Why distributed development teams can be as effective as co-located ones when managed properly
Wayne is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Founders Workshop, where he helps entrepreneurs transform ideas into market-ready, scalable software products. With decades of experience spanning education, UI/UX, startups, and venture capital, he has guided hundreds of founders through the development process using his innovative 5D methodology. As a veteran product strategist, Wayne brings particular insight to the challenges of building B2B web applications, focusing on creating solutions that don't just look good but deliver real business value and solve authentic customer problems.
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Highlights:
- [00:00] Introduction
- [01:41] The First Question for Founders
- [02:47] The 5D Process for Building SaaS
- [04:29] Why Founders Often Get It Wrong
- [06:24] From Ideas to Prototypes
- [10:30] How to Know When It’s Time to Build
- [12:48] Why Focus Groups Don’t Work
- [16:19] Building Trust with Distributed Teams
- [23:41] The Myth of the “Done” MVP
- [25:20] Why “Build Fast, Fix Later” Can Backfire
- [31:57] Where Most Founders Go Wrong
Episode Resources: