Step 2 of 6 · Validate demand
How to validate a startup idea before you build
Guides on validating startup ideas: customer interview questions, landing page smoke tests, pre-sales and letters of intent, and what evidence really means.
4 validate demand guides
- 1Beginner · 6 min readHow to validate a startup idea in a weekValidating a startup idea means finding evidence that a specific group of people already spends money or meaningful time solving a problem, before you build anything. In practice that is seven to ten conversations with people who have the problem, one written summary of what they currently do instead, and a clear answer to what they would have to stop using to adopt yours.
- 2Beginner · 6 min readCustomer interview questions: a script and question bankGood customer interview questions ask about specific past behaviour, not opinions or predictions. Ask people to walk you through the last time the problem happened, what they tried, what it cost and what they use now.
- 3Intermediate · 5 min readLanding page smoke test: how to run a fake-door testA landing page smoke test describes a product that does not exist yet and measures whether real visitors take a meaningful action, such as joining a waitlist, choosing a price plan or requesting access. It tests whether your message and offer attract interest from a specific audience.
- 4Advanced · 6 min readPre-sales and letters of intent: validate with real moneyPre-selling means asking customers for money or a formal commitment before the product is fully built. It is the strongest form of validation because it costs the customer something real.
Learning paths that cover this
Key terms
- A/B test
- An experiment that shows two versions of something to comparable groups and measures which one performs better on a single metric.
- Concierge MVP
- Delivering the promised result to early customers by hand, openly, before building any software.
- Conversion rate
- The percentage of people at one step who complete the next desired action, such as signing up or paying.
- Customer discovery
- Structured conversations with potential customers to learn how they experience a problem before you build a solution.
- Design partner
- An early customer who commits time, feedback and often money to help shape a product before it is finished.
- Fake door test
- Offering a feature or product that does not exist yet to measure how many people try to use it.
- Letter of intent (LOI)
- A short written statement from a prospective customer saying they intend to buy if the product meets agreed conditions.
- Pre-sale
- Taking payment or a firm commitment from a customer before the product is fully built.
Templates
- Customer interview script
A 20-minute interview script that asks about past behaviour instead of pitching, so you collect evidence rather than compliments.
- Interview notes and synthesis sheet
A note-taking layout for each interview plus a synthesis grid for spotting patterns across seven to ten conversations.
- One-page validation summary
A single page that records the evidence for and against an idea so you, a co-founder or an adviser can make a clear decision.
- Landing page smoke test plan
A plan for running a landing page test with a defined audience, offer, success threshold and honest follow-up message.
- Pre-sale and letter of intent outline
An outline for a short, plain-language letter of intent or founding-customer pre-sale agreement with an early buyer.