Hot take: the best product feedback comes from people who said no

Everyone talks about how important user feedback is. And they are right. But most founders only listen to their happy users.

That is a mistake.

The people who tell you the most useful things about your product are the ones who looked at it and walked away. The ones who signed up for a trial and never came back. The ones who sat through your demo and said "interesting, let me think about it" (which is polite for "no thanks").

I learned this the hard way building Genie 007. Early on, I was obsessed with the people who loved the product. I would read their messages, feel great about myself, and keep building in the same direction.

Meanwhile, the people who churned or ghosted me? I just assumed they were not a good fit.

Wrong.

When I finally started reaching out to people who said no, everything changed. One person told me the onboarding was confusing. Another said the pricing made no sense for their use case. A third said they loved the concept but the product did not solve their specific version of the problem.

Every single one of those conversations was worth more than 50 positive reviews. Because positive feedback tells you what is working. Negative feedback tells you what to fix. And fixing things is how you actually grow.

Here is what I do now. Every time someone churns or says no, I send them a short message: "Hey, no hard feelings at all. Would you mind sharing what did not work for you? I am trying to make this better and your honest take would help a lot."

About 40% of people reply. And their answers are gold.

So if you are sitting there wondering why your product is not growing faster, stop surveying your fans. Go talk to the people who left. They know exactly what is wrong. They just need you to ask.

Anyone else doing this? Would love to hear what you have learned from your "nos."