Validate: De-Risk Your Startup Before You Build

You have a brilliant idea. You can see exactly how it will work, who will use it, and why they'll love it. Every instinct tells you to start building immediately. But here's the uncomfortable truth: 70% of startups fail not because of poor execution, but because they build something nobody wants.

The average MVP costs between $50,000 and $200,000 to build and takes 4-8 months. Imagine spending that time and money only to discover your core assumptions were wrong. Validation isn't about slowing down—it's about making sure you're running in the right direction before you sprint.

Why Validation Saves You From Expensive Mistakes

Here's what typically happens without validation: You spend months building features based on what you think users need. You launch. Crickets. Then comes the painful realization that users actually needed something completely different—or worse, they didn't have the problem you were solving in the first place.

The cost isn't just money. It's opportunity cost. Those 6 months you spent building the wrong thing could have been spent building the right thing. Your competitors might have validated faster and captured the market. Your co-founder might have lost faith. Your runway might have evaporated.

Validation takes 2-4 weeks and can save you 6-12 months of building the wrong product. The math isn't complicated—it's just hard to accept when you're excited to build.

The Validation Framework: Four Steps to Confidence

Validation isn't vague "customer research." It's a systematic process with clear outcomes. Here's exactly what you need to do, in order:

1. Problem Validation: Does This Problem Actually Exist?

Your first goal is simple: confirm that the problem you're solving is real, painful, and frequent enough that people will pay to fix it.

How to do it: Talk to 15-20 people who you believe have this problem. Not friends or family—they'll lie to be nice. Find them on LinkedIn, industry Slack groups, Reddit, or through your professional network.

What to ask: Don't ask "Would you use a product that does X?" That's useless. Everyone says yes. Instead, ask:

• "Tell me about the last time you faced [problem]"
• "How are you currently solving this?"
• "How much time/money does this problem cost you?"
• "If you had a magic wand and could solve this perfectly, what would that look like?"

What success looks like: At least 60% of people get animated when you bring up the problem. They have workarounds. They've tried solutions that didn't work. They can tell you exactly what it costs them. If people respond with "Yeah, that's annoying I guess," you don't have a real problem.

2. Solution Validation: Will Your Approach Actually Work?

Now that you know the problem is real, you need to test if your solution resonates. But here's the key: don't build anything yet.

How to do it: Create a landing page or clickable mockup that shows what your product will do. Use tools like:

• Carrd or Webflow - Beautiful landing pages in 2 hours
• Figma - Interactive mockups that feel real
• Loom video - Walkthrough of how it would work

Your landing page should clearly explain: the problem, your solution, and have a clear call-to-action (sign up for early access, join waitlist, pre-order).

What success looks like: Drive 200-500 targeted visitors to your landing page (through Reddit posts, LinkedIn, industry groups—not paid ads yet). If 20-40% of people sign up for your waitlist, you're onto something. If it's under 5%, your solution might not be compelling enough.

3. Willingness to Pay: Will People Actually Give You Money?

This is where most founders get squeamish, but it's the most important validation step. Interest is worthless. Commitment is everything.

How to do it: Ask for pre-orders before you build. Yes, really. Offer a discount (30-50% off future price) and ask for a refundable deposit.

Here's what to say: "We're building [solution] to solve [problem]. It will launch in 3 months at $X/month. If you pre-order today, you get 40% off for life. Fully refundable if we don't deliver."

What success looks like: Get 10-20 people to put down money. Even $50 deposits work. If people won't commit $50, they won't commit $500 later. Email addresses are free—credit cards are commitment.

4. Market Size: Is This Worth Building?

You've validated the problem and solution. But is the market big enough to justify building a business?

Quick market sizing exercise:

• TAM (Total Addressable Market): How many people/companies have this problem globally?
• SAM (Serviceable Available Market): How many could you realistically reach in 2-3 years?
• SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market): How many can you capture in year 1?

Rule of thumb: If your SOM isn't at least 1,000 paying customers at your target price point, you might be building a feature, not a business. That doesn't mean don't build it—but know what you're building.

Five Validation Mistakes That Kill Ideas

I've seen these mistakes hundreds of times. If you're making any of them, your validation is probably worthless:

Your Validation Toolkit: What You Need to Get Started

You don't need expensive tools or consultants. Here's everything you need to validate your idea in the next 2-4 weeks:

Tools for Customer Interviews

• Calendly: Let people book 30-minute slots with you automatically
• Zoom or Google Meet: Free video calls for remote interviews
• Notion or Google Docs: Track your interview notes in one place

Tools for Landing Pages

• Carrd: Build a beautiful landing page in 2 hours for $19/year
• Webflow: More advanced, professional templates
• Mailchimp or ConvertKit: Collect email signups

Tools for Mockups and Prototypes

• Figma: Create interactive prototypes that feel like real products (free tier available)
• Loom: Record a video walkthrough of how your product will work
• Canva: Quick mockups if you're not technical

Where to Find People to Interview

• LinkedIn: Search for job titles of your target customer, send personalized messages
• Reddit: Find relevant subreddits, post asking for feedback (be genuine, not salesy)
• Industry Slack/Discord groups: Many industries have free communities
• Your network: Not for validation, but to get introductions to the right people

Timeline: If you dedicate 10-15 hours a week, you can complete validation in 2-4 weeks. Week 1: customer interviews. Week 2: landing page and mockups. Week 3: drive traffic and collect signups. Week 4: analyze results and decide if you're ready to build.

How to Know When You're Done Validating

Validation isn't infinite. You can't interview everyone or test every variation. Here are the clear signals that you're ready to move to the Design phase:

• You've talked to 15-20 people in your target market and at least 60% expressed strong pain around the problem
• Your landing page converts at 20%+ from targeted traffic (not random visitors)
• You have 10-20 people willing to pre-pay or commit financially in some way
• You can articulate the problem better than your customers can - you've heard it so many times you know every nuance
• Your market size makes sense - there are at least 1,000 potential paying customers at your price point

If you hit all five of these, you're validated. If you're missing more than one, keep validating. Don't rationalize your way into building just because you're excited.

Start Validating Tomorrow

Here's your action plan for the next 24 hours: Make a list of 20 people who might have the problem you're solving. They can be LinkedIn connections, people in Slack groups, or folks you find on Reddit. Send each of them a short message asking if they'd be willing to chat for 20 minutes about [problem]. Offer nothing in return—no pitch, no product, just learning.

You'll be amazed what you learn in the first five conversations. Some of your assumptions will be confirmed. Others will be completely wrong. And that's exactly the point. Better to find out now, in a 30-minute conversation, than six months from now when you've built the wrong thing.

Once you've validated your idea, you're ready for the next phase: Design. That's where you'll take everything you learned and blueprint exactly what you're going to build. But we'll save that for the next post.