Market Research

How to Find Solution Requests on Reddit: A Founder's Guide

8 min read

Have you ever wondered where entrepreneurs find their best product ideas? The answer might surprise you: they’re hiding in plain sight on Reddit. Every day, thousands of people actively request solutions to their problems across hundreds of subreddits. These solution requests on Reddit represent pure, unfiltered market demand - people literally asking for someone to solve their pain points.

For founders and entrepreneurs, this is gold. Unlike traditional market research that relies on surveys or focus groups, Reddit solution requests come from real people experiencing real problems in real-time. They’re not being prompted by researchers; they’re organically seeking help, which makes this data incredibly valuable for validation.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn how to systematically find, analyze, and leverage solution requests on Reddit to validate your startup ideas, identify market gaps, and build products people actually want.

Why Reddit Is a Goldmine for Solution Requests

Reddit isn’t just another social media platform - it’s a collection of thousands of niche communities where people gather to discuss specific topics, share experiences, and yes, ask for solutions to their problems. Here’s why it’s particularly valuable for entrepreneurs:

Authentic conversations: Reddit users tend to be brutally honest. The upvote/downvote system naturally surfaces the most relevant and genuine content, filtering out noise and promotional spam.

Niche communities: With over 100,000 active subreddits, you can find dedicated communities for almost any industry, hobby, or demographic. This specificity helps you target exactly the audience you’re trying to serve.

Rich context: Unlike a single survey response, Reddit threads provide context. You see the problem described in detail, watch how others respond, and observe which solutions people have already tried (and why they failed).

Engagement metrics: Upvotes, comments, and awards serve as built-in validation signals. A highly upvoted solution request indicates that many people share the same problem.

Identifying High-Quality Solution Requests

Not all solution requests are created equal. The best ones for validation share certain characteristics that indicate genuine market need:

Look for Specificity

Vague requests like “I need help with productivity” are less valuable than specific ones like “I need a tool that integrates Notion with my calendar and automatically blocks focus time based on my task priorities.” Specific requests tell you exactly what features matter and what existing solutions lack.

Check for Frequency

One person asking for a solution might be an outlier. Ten people asking for the same solution over three months? That’s a pattern worth investigating. Use Reddit’s search function with time filters to identify recurring requests.

Assess Urgency and Pain Level

Pay attention to language intensity. Phrases like “desperately need,” “this is killing me,” or “willing to pay” indicate higher pain levels. People who describe workarounds they’ve cobbled together are especially valuable - they’re showing you they’re already investing time and effort into solving the problem.

Evaluate Community Engagement

High engagement (upvotes, comments, awards) suggests others resonate with the request. Comments like “me too!” or “I’ve been looking for this forever” are strong validation signals.

Strategic Subreddits for Finding Solution Requests

While solution requests appear across Reddit, certain subreddits are particularly rich sources:

Industry-specific communities: r/Entrepreneur, r/SaaS, r/startups for business tools; r/productivity for productivity apps; r/webdev for developer tools.

Problem-solving subreddits: r/findareddit (people looking for communities), r/tipofmytongue (people looking for solutions they can’t quite remember), r/helpmefind (general solution requests).

Professional communities: r/marketing, r/sales, r/freelance, r/remotework - these communities frequently discuss workflow challenges and tool needs.

Hobby and lifestyle subreddits: Depending on your target market, communities around fitness, parenting, gaming, or cooking often surface unmet needs.

Advanced Search Techniques for Solution Discovery

Reddit’s native search can be limiting, but combining it with advanced operators and external tools dramatically improves your results:

Reddit Search Operators

Use these search modifiers to refine your results:

subreddit:subredditname – Search within a specific community
title:"exact phrase" – Find posts with exact title matches
selftext:"keyword" – Search post content (not titles)
author:username – Track specific users’ posts
flair:flairname – Filter by post flair (many subs tag solution requests)

Effective Search Phrases

Try these search patterns to uncover solution requests:

“looking for a tool”
“is there an app”
“does anyone know”
“alternative to”
“better than”
“help me find”
“recommendations for”
“what do you use for”

Time-Based Filtering

Recent requests are valuable, but don’t ignore historical data. Search across different time periods (past week, month, year) to identify persistent vs. trending problems.

How PainOnSocial Streamlines Solution Request Discovery

Manually searching Reddit for solution requests works, but it’s time-consuming and you’ll inevitably miss important discussions. This is where PainOnSocial becomes invaluable for serious founders.

Instead of spending hours crafting search queries and manually reviewing threads, PainOnSocial uses AI to automatically surface the most relevant pain points and solution requests from curated Reddit communities. The tool specifically analyzes discussions to identify:

Explicit solution requests (“I need a tool that…”)
Implicit pain points (“I hate how X always…”)
Failed alternatives (“I tried Y but it doesn’t…”)
Willing-to-pay signals (“Would pay for a solution to…”)

Each pain point comes with evidence - real quotes, permalink references, and upvote counts - so you can quickly assess validation without digging through hundreds of threads. The AI scoring system (0-100) ranks pain points by frequency and intensity, helping you prioritize which problems represent the best opportunities. For founders systematically researching solution requests on Reddit, this transforms weeks of manual research into hours of focused analysis.

Analyzing and Validating Solution Requests

Finding solution requests is just the first step. You need a systematic approach to analyze whether they represent real opportunities:

Create a Solution Request Database

Build a spreadsheet tracking:

Problem description
Subreddit and date
Upvote count
Number of similar requests found
Existing solutions mentioned
Why existing solutions fail
Evidence of willingness to pay
Your assessment score (create your own criteria)

Look for Patterns Across Communities

The strongest validation comes from finding the same solution request across multiple unrelated subreddits. If r/Entrepreneur, r/freelance, and r/smallbusiness all surface requests for similar invoicing problems, you’ve found a cross-segment pain point.

Engage Directly (Carefully)

Reddit has strict rules against self-promotion, but thoughtful engagement is encouraged. Reply to solution requests with genuine questions (not pitches):

“What have you already tried for this?”
“What would your ideal solution look like?”
“What’s your biggest frustration with current options?”

This not only provides deeper insights but also builds relationships with potential early adopters.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Even experienced founders make these mistakes when mining Reddit for solution requests:

Confirmation Bias

You’ll be tempted to focus on requests that validate your existing idea. Resist this. The best founders let Reddit challenge their assumptions, not just confirm them.

Ignoring Context

A solution request in a subreddit with 500 members has different implications than one in a community with 500,000 members. Consider market size alongside pain intensity.

Overlooking Existing Solutions

Just because someone requests a solution doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Often, the problem is discoverability or fit. Read comment threads to understand why existing solutions fail.

Missing the Real Problem

Sometimes the stated request isn’t the actual problem. Someone asking for “better project management software” might really need “a way to get their team to actually use project management software” - a completely different challenge requiring a different solution.

Turning Solution Requests Into Validation Conversations

Once you’ve identified promising solution requests, the next step is deeper validation:

Direct Outreach

Send thoughtful direct messages (DMs) to users who posted solution requests. Keep it brief, genuine, and focused on learning:

“Hey [username], I saw your post about [problem]. I’m researching this space and would love to understand your experience better. Would you be open to a 15-minute call? Happy to share what I learn.”

Create a Landing Page

Build a simple landing page describing your proposed solution and share it (where appropriate and following subreddit rules) to gauge interest. Track email signups as a validation metric.

Run Small Experiments

Before building anything, test demand. Create a detailed post in relevant subreddits outlining your proposed solution and asking for feedback. The engagement will tell you a lot about market interest.

Conclusion: Your Next Steps

Solution requests on Reddit represent one of the most underutilized resources for startup validation. While your competitors are running expensive focus groups or building based on hunches, you can tap into thousands of real conversations where people are actively asking for solutions.

Start today with these action steps:

Identify 5-10 subreddits relevant to your target market
Spend 30 minutes daily searching for solution requests using the techniques outlined above
Build your solution request database
Engage thoughtfully with users who post the most compelling requests
Look for patterns and recurring themes

Remember, the goal isn’t just to find any solution request - it’s to find the right ones that indicate genuine market need, sufficient pain intensity, and willingness to pay. With systematic research and the right tools, Reddit can become your most valuable source of validated startup ideas.

The best time to start mining Reddit for solution requests was yesterday. The second best time is now. Your next big idea is waiting in someone’s Reddit post - you just need to find it.