Alex Nitsa
Most failed products were not badly built. They were built for a problem nobody was willing to pay to solve. Learning how to validate a business idea before you build anything is one of the highest-return skills a founder can have. It saves months of work and a lot of money.
Start with the problem, not the solution
Write down the problem your idea solves in one sentence, from the customer's point of view. "Small agency owners waste hours every week chasing invoices." If you cannot describe the problem without mentioning your product, you are still in love with the solution.
Define who has the problem
"Everyone" is not a customer. Get specific: role, situation, size of business, and what they currently do about the problem. The narrower the group, the easier it is to find and talk to them.
Talk to ten real people
Before any landing page or prototype, have ten conversations with people who fit your description. Do not pitch. Ask about their experience:
- When did this problem last happen?
- What did you do about it?
- What have you tried? What did it cost?
- What is the most annoying part?
You are looking for patterns, emotion, and existing spending. If nobody has tried to solve it, it may not be painful enough.
Watch out for compliments
"That is a great idea" is not validation. Friends, family, and polite strangers will say it. Real validation looks like time, money, or effort: someone joins a waitlist, books a call, pre-pays, or introduces you to a colleague.
Test demand with a simple offer
Create the smallest possible version of your offer and ask for commitment. That can be:
- A one-page site with a clear promise and a sign-up or pre-order.
- A manual, done-for-you version of the service you plan to automate.
- A paid pilot with three to five early customers.
Doing things manually first is not a shortcut. It is how you learn what the product actually needs to be.
Set a clear success threshold
Before testing, decide what result would convince you to continue. For example: 5 paid pilots in 30 days, or 50 waitlist sign-ups from 500 visitors. Without a threshold, every result looks encouraging.
Decide: build, change, or stop
After the test, make a clear call. Build if the evidence is strong. Change the offer or audience if the signal is mixed. Stop if nobody cares. Stopping early is a win; it frees you for a better idea.
Validation is a clarity tool
Validation is really about replacing assumptions with evidence. It brings clarity to what you should build and for whom, which is the same principle behind the Clarity Manifesto. I help founders in Charlotte, NC, run these tests quickly, and then build the version people actually want.