When Haters Validate Your Startup
A while ago, a user once sent us very hateful messages with foul language via support and even on my personal Instagram…
When I shared these messages with friends, I noticed a stark difference in how founders vs. non-founders reacted.
Non-founders: “Oh, I’m so sorry this happened” “Ah that sucks!” "Oh no I can't believe that"
Founders: “Yo, congrats!” "Great validation!" “Milestone unlocked!”
A few key points:
- This is one frustrated user out of many happy ones.
- We communicated within our outlined hours, but when money is involved, minutes can sometimes feel like hours. (That said, mutual respect matters but that’s a spiel for another day…)
- The problem resolved & we did all we could in our control to solve it up until it was
If we failed to communicate, weren't actively solving the case, or had a high percentage of unhappy users, I’d have viewed this differently.
Instead, similar to other founders’ perspectives, I found this reaction signaled that:
- People care deeply about what we’re solving.
- We got pointed feedback on what really matters to make the product even better.
- We reached a level of visibility where love comes with few opinionated critiques — just like any other growing brand.
Of course, we’ll always aim to do our best for customers & minimize negativity.
But for founders, these outbursts don't have to be personal— turns out it could be market signal, too.
Onwards!