The Reddit Query That Finds Real Customer Pain

On the Starter Story podcast, one entrepreneur walked through the exact method he uses to validate demand before building anything. The core insight: people on Reddit are already describing their problems in plain language, but most founders search for them wrong. The right search query, combined with the right platform, surfaces pain that surveys and interviews miss.

The "I Feel / I Have Been / I Experienced" Filter

The central technique is deceptively simple. Instead of searching Reddit for a broad term like "co-parenting problems," the guest builds a Google query that forces results to contain phrases people use when they are in the middle of a struggle. His go-to filter strings together three emotion-bearing phrases: "I feel," "I have been," and "I experienced." He copies this into a Google search along with the niche keyword, then restricts results to Reddit.