Can the wrong testers give you false confidence in your product?

As I work toward getting more people to use my product I've been building.

We spend so much time testing whether our software works. We check functionality, fix bugs, improve the interface, and make sure everything behaves as expected.

But I've started questioning whether we're always testing with the right people.

Someone with a technical background might tell you the product is well built. A friend might tell you it's a great idea. Someone unfamiliar with the problem might say the interface looks good.

All of that feedback can be helpful.

But none of it necessarily tells you whether the people you're building for actually need the product.

I'm starting to see three different questions:

1. Can people use it? Does the product work, and can someone navigate it successfully?

2. Does it solve a real problem? Does the intended user recognize the problem and find the solution useful?

3. Would they keep using it? Is the value meaningful enough for someone to return after the initial experience?

I don't think those questions can always be answered by the same group of testers.

And I'm beginning to wonder whether positive feedback from the wrong audience can sometimes delay the learning founders need most.

For those who've launched products, have you ever received encouraging feedback during testing, only to discover that actual users responded differently?