An analysis of 21 founder publications on Habr reveals a critical lack of clear customer targeting. Only 2 out of 21 founders explicitly defined their target audience, while the remaining 19 failed to provide a clear answer to who their product is for.
The two founders who clearly identified their customers achieved the fastest growth: one marketer created an auction site where brands pay for stickers on a laptop, earning 600,000 ₽ in the first day. A backend developer created a fuel-finding bot during a fuel crisis, attracting 2,000 users in 12 hours with zero marketing spend.
In contrast, a team that launched a free online whiteboard as a lead magnet for a SaaS product spent 22,000 ₽ on advertising, resulting in 5,929 visits. However, only 1% of users returned after a week, as they targeted a broad audience instead of a specific niche.
The study found that only 5% of founders included a 'who this is not for' section, and only 19% provided evidence-based solutions. Many products lacked clear pricing models, as 52% of those mentioning price listed it as 'free', and only 5 out of 18 products had a clear paid model.