Straight answers to the questions founders actually search.
No fluff, no 2,000-word intros. Direct answers, step-by-step methods, and the FAQs that follow.
How do you validate a startup idea?
Validate a startup idea in three steps: (1) write down every assumption your idea depends on and rank them by cost-of-being-wrong, (2) run 10 customer discovery interviews focused on past behavior, not opinions, (3) sell a paid pilot before writing production code. If nobody pays, the idea is not validated — no amount of positive interviews changes that.
How do you validate a startup idea before building?
Before writing any code, run a two-week validation sprint: map risky assumptions, interview 10 target customers about last-week behavior, then pre-sell a manual pilot. Only start building when at least 2 real buyers have paid for a version you're delivering by hand.
What's a startup idea validation checklist?
A minimum validation checklist: (1) segment written in one sentence, (2) top 5 risky assumptions listed, (3) 10 behavior-anchored interviews completed, (4) evidence map showing which assumptions survived, (5) 2+ paid pilots signed, (6) written kill criteria you'll respect. Missing any of these means you have hope, not validation.
What questions should I ask in a customer discovery interview?
Ask only about past behavior, never about your idea. Best 5 questions: (1) walk me through the last time this problem hit you, (2) what did you try, (3) what did you spend on it, (4) who else was in the decision, (5) if this stayed broken for another 6 months, what would that cost you? Never ask 'would you use…' — the answer is meaningless.
What's the difference between market validation and idea validation?
Idea validation asks 'do people want this?' — behavioral evidence from 10–20 target customers. Market validation asks 'is the market big enough and reachable enough to build a company?' — TAM/SAM/SOM sizing, channel economics, competitor density. You need both: an idea validated in a market too small (or with unaffordable CAC) is a project, not a company.
Prefer to just run it? Use the free validation tools → — interview question generator, ICP builder, and the validation checklist.
Vouch turns this method into a workspace: assumption mapping, interview scripts, transcript scoring, and paid-pilot templates in one place. Start a validation project →