Fast validation methods
Validate by testing customer interest with minimal time and money. The goal is to learn whether real people will pay or commit before you build the full product.
Low-cost validation tactics:
- Customer interviews to confirm pain and willingness to pay.
- Landing pages describing the product with email signup.
- Pre-sales, deposits, or crowdfunding to measure willingness to pay.
- Concierge or manual service offering to deliver the promise without a product.
- Simple prototypes or mockups for usability feedback.
Validation steps:
- Define the riskiest assumption (e.g., customers will pay $X).
- Design an experiment to test that assumption quickly.
- Measure real signals: clicks, signups, paid conversions.
- Iterate based on feedback and repeat tests.
What counts as success
A small but real signal is better than surveys. For example, 5–10 paying customers in a target niche or a high conversion rate from ads to paid signups indicates potential. If interest is low, refine targeting or problem framing before building.
Keep learning
Document what you learn from each test. Use evidence to guide feature development and market strategy rather than assumptions.