Start with an audience group you like or even better yet already a part of.
Why?
It's very unlikely you dislike an audience group you're part of.
It's very unlikely you cannot connect with an audience group you're part of.
It's very unlikely you cannot understand deeply the kind of specific pain points or pressing needs of your fellow tribe members from the same audience group you're part of.
Tho it's possible you belong to an audience group that cannot pay or cannot pay enough for your efforts. But if you find something pressing or important enough, someone will pay...
There are many ways things can go wrong.
Let's start with the build first approach.
You build a product but cannot get easy access to audience.
You build a product can get easy access to audience but they not interested.
You build a product can get easy access, they interested, but they cannot pay or cannot pay enough to make it worth your effort.
These 3 are for the build first approach.
Then the audience first approach (which i prefer) also can have many things wrong.
You find an audience but you cannot connect with them.
You find an audience you can connect with them, but you don't like them so you cannot stay connected with them for long.
You find an audience, you can connect with them, you like them but you cannot build the things that solve their pressing needs or pain points.
you find an audience you can connect with them, you like them, you can build but they cannot pay or pay enough to make it worth your effort.
The problems with build first tend to be the mirror image of audience first and vice versa.
Of all the problems i have, the least problem is building. Hence i choose the audience first approach. If i can find an audience and i like working with them and understanding them, and they can afford to pay, eventually i will be able to build something that works for them.
Case in point is my current revenue source a MNC client who can afford to pay, the main people i work with are nice and competent, tho i think some of the instructions from their upper management are a bit suboptimal and a small minority of the end users are not very good at their work which impacts me, and they asked me to build something i had no experience building and was complicated but eventually i figured it out .
Start with an audience group you like or even better yet already a part of.
Why?
Tho it's possible you belong to an audience group that cannot pay or cannot pay enough for your efforts. But if you find something pressing or important enough, someone will pay...
There are many ways things can go wrong.
Let's start with the build first approach.
These 3 are for the build first approach.
Then the audience first approach (which i prefer) also can have many things wrong.
The problems with build first tend to be the mirror image of audience first and vice versa.
Of all the problems i have, the least problem is building. Hence i choose the audience first approach. If i can find an audience and i like working with them and understanding them, and they can afford to pay, eventually i will be able to build something that works for them.
Case in point is my current revenue source a MNC client who can afford to pay, the main people i work with are nice and competent, tho i think some of the instructions from their upper management are a bit suboptimal and a small minority of the end users are not very good at their work which impacts me, and they asked me to build something i had no experience building and was complicated but eventually i figured it out .
Even tho it was not perfect and a bit 💩 but they kept using it cause it was so important for them.
Every time i build something before talking to any target audience or is a group i'm not already part of, it always fails.
Your mileage may vary.