AI Product Thinking: Traction or Monetisation? 🤖

Your first job isn't to get 10,000 users: it's to find 10 who are obsessed.

You've built it. The AI-powered tool is slick, the "vibe coding" from tools like Replit or Lovable feels like magic, and the potential seems limitless. But now you're staring at two terrifyingly blank charts: user growth and revenue.

The VCs, your team, and the voice in your head are all asking the same paralyzing question: what do we chase first? Users or dollars?

And the brutal truth: while you're having this debate, your runway is burning and your competitors are shipping.

The classic playbook pits these two against each other in a brutal cage match.

• "Get a million users, then monetize!" shouts one camp.

• "No, find paying customers from day one!" screams the other.

This is a false choice, a trap that burns runway and morale while you chase ghosts.
Let’s change the frame.

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Instead of Traction vs. Monetisation, let's think Signal vs. System.

Your early goal isn't just "traction" in the vague sense of traffic spikes and sign-ups. It's to find a Signal: crisp, undeniable evidence that you've found a real pain for a specific group of people.

Monetisation is the System you build later to capture the value that signal represents.

Trying to build the system before you have the signal is like trying to sell tickets to a movie you haven't even filmed yet.

Part 1: Find Your Signal (The Traction-Kernel)

The Trap

The trap is mistaking attention for validation. Because tools like Replit and Lovable make building so fast, it's easy to build something cool that attracts attention but doesn't solve a real problem. You launch on Product Hunt, get a flood of curious clickers, and bask in the glory of a top-five finish.

But a week later, your retention chart is a cliff, and you have no idea why. The vanity metrics feel good, but they are a lie. You’ve measured the volume of noise, not the quality of the signal.

Your Job

Your job is to find your MVT: Minimum Viable Traction. This isn't a number; it's a story.

Forget 10,000 users. Can you find 10 who are obsessed? Ten people who don't just think your AI tool is "neat," but have woven it into their daily workflow? They aren't using it for the novelty; they're using it to solve a painful, recurring problem.

Here's the test: if your product disappeared tomorrow, would they scramble to find an alternative, or would they just shrug and move on?

Your job is to become an obsessive documentarian of this small cohort. 1/ What do they do right before they use your tool? 2/ What do they do right after? 3/ What language do they use to describe it to a peer? This is your signal. This is your Traction-Kernel.

Part 2: Build Your System (The Monetisation Engine)

The Trap

The trap is thinking monetisation is just a price tag and a Stripe checkout page. You see other products with three-tiered pricing, so you copy them. You spend weeks building the perfect billing flow, complete with annual discounts and a "most popular" tag. You've built a beautiful, intricate system to capture value that you haven't yet proven exists.

Your Job

Your job is to turn the story of your Traction-Kernel into a compelling narrative that attracts the next 100 users. Your first monetisation efforts aren't about optimising revenue; they're about validating the signal with the ultimate acid test: getting someone to pay.

This doesn't require a complex system. Start embarrassingly simple:

• Send a PDF invoice manually.

• Use a simple "Pay what you think is fair" form.

• Get on a call and ask for their credit card number.

The goal isn't to build a scalable machine; it's to get the first dollar. That first transaction is the final, critical piece of your signal. It proves not just that your product is useful, but that its value is tangible enough for someone to exchange money for it.

If they hesitate to pay, you haven't found your signal yet. Keep hunting.

Part 3: Feedback Loop For A Traction Echo

Your MVT Minimum Viable Traction creates an echo. Those 10 obsessed users start talking. They post about it in a private Slack/Whatsapp groups. They show it to a coworker. This isn't a viral explosion; it's what I name it a high-fidelity signal reverberating within a tiny, targeted community.

Your job is to listen for and amplify *that* echo, not to shout into the void of the general internet. This echo, real people telling specific stories about your product, is your most powerful marketing and your clearest path to your next cohort of users.

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Your Lethal Seed Round Story

Stop debating traction vs. revenue. You can use this paragraph in your next pitch:

"We've found a 'Traction-Kernel' with a small cohort of product managers who are using our tool daily to cut down their PRD-writing time by 50%. We manually invoiced our first five customers, and they all paid within 24 hours. We're not just showing user growth; we're showing a validated signal of obsession and a validated willingness to pay. Now, we're ready to build the system to scale it."

My Real Test For You … and For Me

Stop reading. Right now.
Go find one person who used your product this week. Get them on a call.

Don't ask your customers if they'd pay. Ask them what they would lose if your product disappeared tomorrow.

If their answer isn't visceral, immediate, and slightly panicked, you don't have a monetisation problem, then you have …. ? Yes, a “signal” problem.

In Action

With that same spirit, I’ve built the system for that signal. For paid subscribers/ Prime Voyagers who want to turn this framework into a rigorous process, I’ve created the “Signal vs. System Founder's Toolkit”.

It's a detailed Notion template with checklists, interview scripts, and a scorecard to help you methodically find your obsessed users and validate their willingness to pay.

This is me practicing what I preach: creating tangible value for those who need it most.

Want the Toolkit for That? 👇