| name | Validation Test |
| description | Test the assumption that would end the venture, with the pass bar fixed beforehand. |
| category | Venture |
Validation Test
Test the thing that would kill the venture, not the thing that is easiest to
test. Those are almost never the same, and picking the second is how a studio
spends a quarter learning nothing.
When to use
- A venture is at thesis or validating stage.
- Somebody wants to start building.
Steps
- Name the riskiest assumption. Usually demand, occasionally a supply
constraint, rarely the technology — though the technology is what everybody
wants to test because it is the enjoyable part.
- Fix the pass bar before running, on the
validations row. Afterwards,
any result reads as encouraging: this is the single most important step here.
- Pick the cheapest method that could actually fail. A landing page, a
concierge build, a pre-sale. A pre-sale is worth ten interviews, because
people say yes in interviews for free.
- Run it long enough and wide enough to fail. A test that cannot produce a
no is a marketing exercise.
- Read it against the bar, not against hope. Record both.
- Close honestly.
failed and inconclusive are the results that save
money, and a studio that never records one is validating nothing and building
anyway.
Output
A validations row with the bar it was judged against and the actual result. A
failed validation is a successful use of this skill.
