Hansel.ai Has A Vision That Matters
Hansel, an early stay startup, is tackling a timely and urgent crisis: the epidemic of social isolation. Research from experts like Jonathan Haidt, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and Casley Killam shows that chronic loneliness is incredibly detrimental to our health, and can be more dangerous than smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Hansel’s mission is ambitious and deeply human: to deepen real-life social connections through technology. 80% of people who heard even the first 20 seconds of the elevator pitch were wholeheartedly on board with the vision and mission.
At its core, Hansel is building an AI-powered “social secretary”: a lightweight agent that integrates with platforms like iMessage or SMS to help users turn intent into action. Whether it's planning a coffee catch-up or reconnecting with old friends, the agent is designed to make real-life meetups easier and more intentional.
The founder of hansel lives and breathes this mission. She has long rejected the culture of digital distraction, has been off social media for over 10 years, and has built her life around meaningful in-person connection. That ethos gives Hansel’s brand a rare kind of authenticity. Take note, founders!
The business model is equally thoughtful. While the product is intended to be initially free for consumers, Hansel will also eventually offer a B2B solution for teams and employers, basically positioning the tool as a social wellness benefit for workforces. After all, it’s been observed that people who get to know each other personally ultimately have more successful working relationships. A healthcare organization with 500+ employees even signed a letter of intent to pay $50 per seat—a strong signal of demand and viability.
When the Future Comes Too Fast
In Pattern Breakers, investor Mike Maples Jr. writes:
“To start a great company, you must live in the future.”
But many early-stage founders try to live in the future before validating the present.
When I joined Hansel as a product advisor, the tiny and mighty team had already invested in projections, acquisition strategies, and pitch decks. They had run a small survey (~30 responses) and conducted early user interviews that shaped the company’s messaging and made its way into pitch decks. A hard-coded prototype existed, but it was fragile and not yet usable for meaningful testing.
One of my first contributions was helping the founder define the MVP and stand up a knowledge base for a small tech team. We aligned on a product requirements document and a clear feature scope. But much of the company's energy remained focused on theoretical growth—CAC, LTV, waitlist conversions—rather than real product interaction.
As Lean Startup’s Steve Blank said: “No business plan survives first contact with customers.”
Validation doesn’t happen in spreadsheets. It happens through user behavior, feedback (quantitative and qualitative), and iterations.
What Was Missing?
The problem Hansel aims to solve is legitimate. The founder is deeply committed. The opportunity is real.
However, during my eventful and short engagement, the company had yet to build the product infrastructure to support learning or momentum (aka, Product-Led-Growth). A coded demo was built before any UI design work was done. It’s no secret that designs, including high-fidelity mockups, are typically faster, cheaper, and easier to iterate on than code. The founder had worked independently on this demo, and the backend was being hard-coded without prior discussion, in a vacuum, by former engineering colleagues volunteering their time. As new team members joined as partners, this approach felt neither transparent nor collaborative. The key gaps I started observing included:
❌ No testable prototype in the hands of users
❌ No continuous feedback loop
❌ A waitlist campaign without anything to adopt
❌ Conversations around CAC and LTV, but no real usage data
❌ A focus on finding a technical co-founder before defining the technical scope
These missteps are common, especially among founders with strong marketing or brand backgrounds who haven’t fully embraced what top voices and experts in Silicon Valley call the product discovery mindset. It was Marty Cagan who popularized this mindset among larger tech organizations looking to be more product-focused. I’ve seen these missteps occur in an almost repeatable pattern since I first joined a startup back in 2010.
Consider the power and the knowledge that comes from having users get to know your product.
“You can’t validate your idea without a product experience. And you can’t validate a product experience without users.” — Marty Cagan, Inspired
During my time working on Hansel, I was getting considerable pushback about addressing the gaps I mention above, and I actually assumed it was my own blindspots getting in the way.
I also recruited a senior engineering advisor—a very accomplished individual I had worked with before—who dramatically improved the demo in only a couple of weeks. But his contributions went under-recognized. In retrospect, this reflected a broader challenge: the value of product and technical partners wasn’t yet fully understood.
Key Takeaways for Pre-Seed Founders
Building a startup at the pre-seed stage is an exercise in disciplined exploration. It’s easy to get swept up in the vision, the storytelling, and the strategies about how to acquire customers. But none of that matters without an existing product. What Hansel reminded me is that strong ideas need structure, and passionate founders need partners who can help them turn conviction into an actual product that can help you learn more about what your customers will ultimately need from you. Founders need Product people to remind them of the power of Product-Led-Growth. Here are the lessons I took with me—and the ones I now bring to every early-stage team I work with.
🛠 Build Before You Broadcast
This is the most important one. Don't build a funnel or grow a waitlist before you've built something people can actually use.
🎨 Invest in Product & UX Early
Hire someone who can prototype, test, and gather early signals before spending on paid marketing.
💡 Don’t Lead with CAC & LTV
Metrics are useful—but only after real usage exists. Strategy is not a substitute for signal.
🚫 Early Adopters Need Something to Adopt
A compelling vision is a great start, however you need a usable product to convert early interest into real feedback.
📈 Embrace Product-Led Growth
Skip the splashy launch. Focus on getting a few users to love your product and build from there.
👥 You Don’t Need a Technical Co-Founder (Yet)
You need someone technical enough to build, iterate, and learn with you. They should be local or timezone-aligned—not an offshore team taking orders from a non-technical founder.
🚀 VCs Want Proof, Not Promises
Especially in AI, healthtech, and cybersecurity, the bar is high. A beautiful deck won’t beat live user engagement.
Closing Thoughts
Hansel.ai is tackling a meaningful, modern problem with conviction. During my engagement, I saw the message sharpen and the ambition grow. I also witnessed familiar early-stage pitfalls—ones that can be avoided with the right approach to discovery and validation.
If you're building something new:
Start small
Build something usable
Get it into real hands
Live in the future, but validate in the present. That’s a proven way to build something that lasts.
