Startup Guides

How to Get Feedback on Reddit: A Complete Guide for Founders

9 min read

As an entrepreneur or product builder, you know feedback is everything. But getting honest, actionable feedback can be surprisingly difficult. Your friends are too polite, your family too supportive, and traditional surveys often miss the mark. That’s where Reddit comes in - a platform with millions of passionate users who aren’t afraid to tell you exactly what they think.

However, there’s a catch. Reddit has strict community guidelines, and asking for feedback the wrong way can get you downvoted into oblivion or even banned. The good news? When done correctly, Reddit can become your most valuable source of unfiltered user insights.

In this guide, we’ll show you exactly how to get feedback on Reddit, which communities welcome it, and the proven strategies that actually work for founders and entrepreneurs.

Why Reddit is Perfect for Getting Feedback

Reddit isn’t just another social media platform - it’s a collection of passionate communities built around specific interests, problems, and industries. This makes it uniquely valuable for gathering feedback:

Honest opinions: Redditors are known for being brutally honest. You won’t get sugar-coated responses.
Targeted communities: With over 100,000 active subreddits, you can find your exact target audience.
Free and accessible: Unlike paid user testing services, Reddit feedback costs nothing but your time.
Real-time discussions: You can ask follow-up questions and dig deeper into responses.
Upvote system: The most valuable feedback naturally rises to the top through community voting.

But here’s what most founders get wrong: they treat Reddit like a marketing platform. That’s the fastest way to fail. Reddit is a community-first platform where self-promotion is generally frowned upon.

Finding the Right Subreddits for Feedback

Not all subreddits allow feedback requests. Some will remove your post immediately, while others actively encourage it. Here’s how to find the right communities:

Subreddits That Welcome Feedback

Start with these entrepreneur and startup-friendly communities that explicitly allow feedback posts:

r/Entrepreneur (3M+ members) – General entrepreneurship discussions, feedback welcome on Fridays
r/startups (1.5M+ members) – Startup-focused, allows feedback threads
r/SideProject (200K+ members) – Perfect for side projects and early-stage products
r/roastmystartup (80K+ members) – Dedicated specifically to brutal feedback
r/InternetIsBeautiful (17M+ members) – For sharing interesting web projects
r/SomebodyMakeThis (100K+ members) – Share ideas and prototypes
r/alphaandbetausers (50K+ members) – Find beta testers and get feedback

Industry-Specific Communities

Beyond general startup subreddits, look for communities specific to your niche. For example:

Building a productivity app? Try r/productivity or r/getdisciplined
Creating a design tool? Check out r/design or r/web_design
Developing a fitness product? Visit r/fitness or r/bodyweightfitness
Working on a SaaS product? Engage with r/saas or r/microsaas

The key is finding communities where your target users already hang out and discuss their problems.

How to Ask for Feedback the Right Way

Now that you know where to post, let’s talk about how to ask for feedback without getting banned or ignored.

1. Read the Rules First

Every subreddit has rules listed in the sidebar. Read them carefully before posting. Look for:

Specific days for self-promotion or feedback (like “Feedback Friday”)
Required post formats or flair tags
Prohibited content types
Karma or account age requirements

2. Build Credibility Before Asking

Don’t create a new account just to ask for feedback. Redditors can spot throwaway accounts instantly. Instead:

Participate in discussions for at least a week before asking for feedback
Provide value by answering questions and sharing insights
Comment on others’ feedback requests
Build some karma (Reddit’s point system) through genuine participation

3. Write a Compelling Post Title

Your title determines whether people click or scroll past. Good titles are:

Specific: “Feedback on my meal planning app” not “Feedback needed”
Honest: “Roast my landing page” or “First-time founder seeking brutal honesty”
Problem-focused: “Built a tool to solve X problem – does this make sense?”

4. Structure Your Feedback Request

A well-structured post gets better responses. Follow this template:

Introduction: Briefly explain what problem you’re solving and why.

What you built: Describe your product or idea in 2-3 sentences maximum.

Specific questions: Ask targeted questions instead of “what do you think?” Try:

“Does this landing page clearly explain what the product does?”
“Would you pay $X/month for this feature set?”
“What’s confusing or unclear about the user flow?”
“What would prevent you from trying this?”

Link or demo: Make it easy for people to check out your product. Include screenshots if applicable.

Gratitude: Thank people in advance for their time.

5. Timing Matters

Post when your target audience is most active:

For US-based audiences: Tuesday-Thursday, 9-11 AM EST or 6-8 PM EST
Avoid weekends unless it’s a hobbyist community
Check subreddit-specific “best times” using tools like Later for Reddit

Using Reddit Feedback to Validate Your Ideas

Getting feedback is one thing, but knowing what to do with it is another. Here’s how to extract maximum value from Reddit responses:

Look for Patterns, Not Individual Opinions

One person saying they hate your color scheme doesn’t mean much. Ten people saying your value proposition is unclear? That’s a pattern worth addressing.

Dig Deeper with Follow-Up Questions

When someone provides feedback, ask clarifying questions:

“Can you explain what you found confusing about X?”
“What would you expect to happen instead?”
“Have you tried solving this problem before?”

Distinguish Between Nice-to-Haves and Must-Haves

Redditors love suggesting features. Not all suggestions are equal. Focus on feedback that addresses:

Core value proposition clarity
Major usability issues
Deal-breaking problems
Pricing concerns

Leveraging AI Tools to Understand Reddit Feedback at Scale

While manually gathering feedback from Reddit posts is valuable, there’s a smarter way to understand what people are really struggling with across entire communities. This is where PainOnSocial becomes incredibly useful for founders seeking feedback.

Instead of posting and hoping for responses, PainOnSocial analyzes thousands of existing Reddit discussions to surface the most frequent and intense pain points people are already talking about. For feedback-seeking founders, this means you can:

Validate whether your solution addresses a real, widespread problem before building
Discover adjacent pain points you might have missed
Read actual quotes from your target users explaining their frustrations
See which problems generate the most engagement and urgency
Find the exact communities where your target users are most active

Think of it as market research on steroids. Rather than asking “what do you think of my idea?” you can enter a product category or problem space and see exactly what hundreds of Reddit users are already complaining about - backed by real discussions, upvote counts, and direct links to the conversations.

This approach gives you a massive head start before you even post your first feedback request, ensuring you’re solving problems people actually care about.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even with good intentions, founders make these critical mistakes when seeking Reddit feedback:

Being Too Promotional

Your post shouldn’t read like a press release. Focus on the problem and solution, not features and benefits. Save the marketing speak for your landing page.

Arguing with Feedback

When someone criticizes your idea, resist the urge to defend it. Thank them for their input and ask questions to understand their perspective better. Getting defensive makes others less likely to share honest opinions.

Asking Too Soon

Posting to Reddit when you only have a vague idea frustrates users. Have at least a landing page, mockups, or a prototype to show. Give people something concrete to react to.

Ignoring Negative Feedback

The harshest criticism often contains the most valuable insights. Don’t dismiss feedback just because it’s not what you wanted to hear.

Not Following Up

If people take time to give you detailed feedback, update them on how you’ve implemented their suggestions. Building relationships on Reddit can lead to beta testers, early adopters, and word-of-mouth promotion.

Advanced Strategies for Maximum Impact

The “Show Your Work” Approach

Instead of asking for feedback on a finished product, share your journey. Post updates as you build:

“Week 1: Validated the problem”
“Week 2: Built first prototype based on your feedback”
“Week 3: Here’s what changed after testing”

This builds an invested community who feels ownership in your success.

The “Feedback Exchange” Method

Offer to provide feedback on others’ projects in exchange for feedback on yours. This creates reciprocity and builds genuine relationships.

Use Polls and Surveys

Many subreddits allow polls. Use them to get quick quantitative data on specific questions like pricing, feature priority, or design preferences.

Turning Reddit Feedback into Action

After collecting feedback, organize it effectively:

Create a feedback spreadsheet: Track comments, suggestions, and common themes
Categorize by priority: Critical issues vs. nice-to-haves
Look for contradictions: Different users want different things - that’s normal
Test before implementing: Major changes based on Reddit feedback should be validated with your broader user base
Communicate changes: Go back to Reddit and share how you’ve improved based on their input

Conclusion

Getting feedback on Reddit isn’t just about posting a link and hoping for the best. It’s about genuinely engaging with communities, asking smart questions, and being open to honest criticism. When done right, Reddit can provide you with invaluable insights that no paid focus group or survey could match.

Remember these key takeaways:

Find the right subreddits where your target users already hang out
Build credibility before asking for feedback
Ask specific, targeted questions rather than vague requests
Look for patterns in feedback, not individual opinions
Engage authentically and avoid being promotional
Thank people and follow up on their suggestions

Start by participating in one or two relevant communities this week. Provide value, build relationships, and when the time is right, ask for feedback. The insights you gain could be the difference between building something people want and building something nobody needs.

Ready to validate your next idea? Head over to Reddit and start listening to what your future customers are already saying.