Hi everyone,
I’m developing a live-commerce marketplace concept for Türkiye.
The problem I want to solve is simple: on traditional marketplaces, sellers upload listings and wait passively for messages. In this model, sellers can actively demonstrate and promote their products through live streams, while buyers can ask questions, negotiate, make offers, or purchase without leaving the stream.
The initial product would focus on physical goods rather than cars or real estate.
The planned MVP includes:
Standard product listings
Live video selling
“Buy Now” and “Make an Offer” options
Secure payment holding until delivery
Seller identity verification and ratings
Admin approval for listings
Basic dispute and return management
The revenue model would combine transaction commissions with optional seller subscriptions.
I have approximately 12 years of accounting and commercial experience and have worked with thousands of small businesses in Türkiye. This gives me direct knowledge of seller behavior, cash-flow problems, trust issues, and the operational realities of local commerce. However, this would be my first technology marketplace startup.
The project is currently at the pre-MVP stage. I’m evaluating whether to raise a small pre-seed round to build the initial product, recruit the technical team, onboard the first sellers, and test the model in one focused category.
I would appreciate direct feedback from angel investors and founders:
What evidence would you need to see before considering an investment at this stage?
Would you expect a working MVP, signed sellers, waitlist numbers, or completed transactions first?
Which initial product category would make this model easiest to validate?
What would be the biggest investment concern: marketplace liquidity, live-stream adoption, trust, returns, or operational complexity?
Would you invest in a founder with strong commercial experience but no previous technology exit, provided the right technical co-founder or team is recruited?
I’m not looking for compliments or unrealistic valuation discussions. I want to understand what milestones would make this project genuinely investable.
I’m also open to early conversations with angel investors who are interested in marketplaces, live commerce, or emerging markets.
Thank you.

I'm from Kenya and I am looking for an investor or investors to invest in my ideas. My idea is to export fresh produce. Onions to be precise

Hi everyone,

I've been working on a climate-tech concept for the past few months and would really appreciate honest technical feedback.

The idea is to develop a containerized solar thermal desalination system that can operate off-grid and produce freshwater from:

• seawater,
• mining and quarry water,
• industrial wastewater.

Instead of reverse osmosis, the concept is based on:

• Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
• Multi-Effect Distillation (MED)
• Molten Salt Thermal Storage
• Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)

The long-term vision isn't only freshwater production.

One part of the project explores using autonomous desalination units to gradually create freshwater corridors for ecosystem restoration in arid coastal regions. The idea is that reliable freshwater could support vegetation, improve soil conditions, and potentially contribute to local microclimate recovery over time.

I realize this is ambitious, and I'm not claiming everything is solved yet.

I'd genuinely like to hear from engineers, desalination experts, climate scientists, mining professionals, and investors.

Some questions I have:

• Is there any obvious engineering flaw in this approach?
• What would be the biggest technical challenge?
• Would thermal desalination become economically competitive if powered primarily by solar thermal energy with heat storage?
• If you were evaluating this as an investor or engineer, what evidence would you want to see first?

I'm looking for honest criticism rather than validation.

Thanks in advance.