The startup playbook used to be clear: identify a niche problem, build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), ship fast, iterate, and scale. But in 2025, a new breed of founders is flipping that model upside down.
Instead of launching with a product, they’re launching with an ecosystem—a brand, a community, an ideology, or even just a shared narrative—well before writing a single line of code.
In this new model, the MVP is not software. It’s network gravity.
This shift isn’t a fluke—it’s being driven by sweeping changes in distribution, user expectations, no-code tooling, AI-native workflows, and how value is being perceived and built in a world beyond features.
Let’s break down why some of 2025’s most powerful startups are going to market with no product at all—and still winning.
What Is a Zero-Product Startup?
A zero-product startup is one that:
- Doesn’t ship a core product at launch
- Leads with content, mission, community, or experience
- Uses ecosystem dynamics (e.g., collaboration, co-creation, loyalty) as the core offering
- Builds infrastructure and tools after traction is proven
These companies don’t build for a market. They build the market first—then shape products inside it.
What’s Replacing Products in the Early Stage?
In this model, startups begin with:
| What Used to Launch First | What Launches First Now |
|---|---|
| A mobile/web app | A Discord or Telegram group |
| A SaaS dashboard | A Substack newsletter or podcast |
| A user sign-up flow | A waitlist with 0 product behind it |
| A product demo | A community town hall or meme page |
| A pitch deck | A movement or manifesto |
Examples:
- A healthtech startup starts with a daily biohacking newsletter, then launches tools for the community.
- A fintech founder builds a TikTok brand around financial anxiety before launching a budgeting tool.
- An edtech startup runs AI course cohorts before building their learning platform.
“We didn’t need a product to prove value—we needed people who cared.”
— Sanjana Rao, founder of Lume, a zero-product mental health startup with 60K Discord members before launch
Why This Is Happening in 2025
1. Community = Capital
Distribution is more valuable than tech. If you have an army, you can build the weapons later.
Platforms like:
…allow founders to generate gravity before they build code.
2. No-Code and AI Killed the “Hard Part”
With tools like:
…founders can ship a functioning product in hours or days. So the real bottleneck is audience and trust, not execution.
3. AI as an Infrastructure Layer
Your “first product” might not be code. It might be a GPT-trained agent, a Notion knowledge base, or a whisper-powered voice assistant that’s custom to your community’s needs.
You don’t build to validate anymore—you validate to decide what to build.
4. The Cost of Attention Has Spiked
In 2025, attention is scarcer than funding. So launching a product no one uses is worse than launching nothing at all. Ecosystem-first startups flip that risk: they build culture first, then deliver value through tools.
Case Studies: Zero-Product Startups That Scaled
1. Thirdwave (Web3 Creator Tools)
Started as a newsletter and Twitter thread series about monetization in creator economies.
→ Built a 40K+ audience
→ Launched product six months later
→ Now processing $10M+ in creator revenue annually
2. Macro (Gen Z Health App)
Launched a meme page and Discord about bio-optimization and Gen Z sleep hacks
→ 80K community
→ Released a mobile app using community-sourced feature ideas
→ App hit #2 in health within 3 weeks of release
3. Bonfire (AI Writing Platform)
Started as a free Google Doc with prompts, then grew to a Telegram network of 100K+ writers
→ Built an app for advanced tools only after top use cases became clear
→ Revenue passed $1M ARR in 9 months
Advantages of the Zero-Product Model
| Advantage | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| 🚀 Faster market feedback | You test demand before wasting dev resources |
| 💸 Higher fundraising potential | VCs fund traction, not ideas |
| 🎯 Built-in product-market fit | You ask your users what they need before you build |
| 💬 Authenticity-first brand | You grow through story, not splashy tech |
| 🛠️ AI-native stack | Everything is composable, low-code, or agent-driven |
What Ecosystem-First Launches Look Like
✅ Before building product:
- Launch a podcast with future users
- Create a Notion dashboard people can clone
- Publish an AI agent or chatbot that solves one key task
- Host a free cohort to learn what problems people actually want solved
- Build a public waitlist that doubles as a community
✅ While building product:
- Co-create with users via weekly office hours
- Test no-code prototypes live with the community
- Crowdsource features in real-time
- Offer digital collectibles, points, or token incentives to early participants
“The product becomes inevitable once the people believe in the mission.”
— Dylan Hauss, investor at Variant Fund
New Metrics for Early-Stage Success
Startups without products are now judged by:
- Community Activation Rate
- Engagement Depth (Not Size)
- Referral Velocity
- Ecosystem Stickiness
- Narrative Control (Can You Set the Conversation?)
A company like VAL (Voice AI Labs) raised $7.4M with only a podcast, 4 voice agents, and a Slack community.
Investor Sentiment in 2025
VCs are beginning to prioritize distribution-first founders—especially in AI, health, climate, and creator tools.
“Traction now means people—not product.”
— Jessica Yoon, partner at a16z crypto
Some funds now write pre-product checks based on:
- Substack subscriber lists
- Twitter/X threads that go viral
- Community engagement screenshots
- AI agents built with no-code tools
In fact, “no product yet” is often seen as a plus—it means more flexibility and less technical debt.
Final Thought
In 2025, building a startup without a product isn’t naive—it’s strategic.
Because if you launch with a feature, you might get ignored.
But if you launch with a movement, a community, or a mission, you can build a product inside the trust you’ve already earned.
The age of MVPs is over.
This is the era of Minimum Viable Ecosystems.
