What if you could know whether your product will succeed before you build it? That’s the question driving the very first episode of Innovation Impossible, where host Danniel sits down with Narek Vardanyan, CEO and co-founder of Prelaunch and TCF Marketing. Having helped thousands of innovations go to market, Narek has seen what works—and what doesn’t.
In the first episode, Narek breaks down what really goes wrong with most new products—and why involving your customers at an early stage is the smartest move you can make.
The Product Graveyard Is Real—But It Doesn’t Have to Be
Narek’s journey started in a marketing agency, working with startups, crowdfunding campaigns, and enterprise brands to launch innovative products. Over time, a frustrating pattern emerged—they’d pick the “coolest” product, spend months on it, and then watch it flop. Meanwhile, the products they’d tossed aside? Some of them went on to do surprisingly well.
The reason? Assumptions, not data, were driving decisions.
That realization led Narek to co-found Prelaunch.com, a validation platform built to replace guesswork with actual customer insights—before companies invest heavily in production.
Co-Creation Over Guesswork
So, what’s the secret? According to Narek, successful innovation comes from one thing—building with your customer, not just for them. That means shifting from anonymous surveys or paid panels to real people who are willing to put down a small deposit to reserve your product. If they’re ready to pay—even before it’s built—that’s a strong signal you’re on to something. It’s not just about testing a concept. It’s about discovering who your customers really are, what they want, and why they’d buy from you.
“Feedback from 10 customers I believe is 10 times more credible, maybe even 100 times more credible than just feedback from random people.”
Learning What Works (and What Doesn’t)
Prelaunch doesn’t just collect data—it benchmarks it. That means analyzing things like conversion rates, time spent on page, and buyer behavior, then comparing that data across thousands of other product launches.
This gives creators clarity on whether their idea has legs—and what to fix if it doesn’t. Maybe it’s your price. Maybe it’s your positioning. Maybe it’s your target audience. Maybe you’ve built a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.
Narek’s team has stopped hundreds of doomed products from hitting the shelves, saving their creators from financial and emotional burnouts. And they’ve helped others pivot early enough to succeed.
When Real Customers Become Co-Creators
One of the most surprising insights? People are eager to co-create—for free. Narek shares stories of would-be buyers submitting pages of detailed feedback, showing up to interviews, and even building presentations to help creators improve their products.
Why? Because they want to see these ideas come to life.
And this method isn’t just for startups. Big brands have started using Prelaunch to avoid costly missteps. One Fortune 500 company nearly invested $50 million in a product—until Prelaunch data revealed it wouldn’t sell.
A New Standard for Launching Products
Narek believes we’re entering a new era of innovation. AI is lowering the cost of prototyping. Crowdfunding has made launch capital more accessible. But competition is fiercer than ever.
That’s why knowing your audience—and building with them—isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s essential.
Whether you’re working on a wearable, a wellness device, or even a flying car, the process remains the same—validate early, gather real customer insights, and adapt.
