What's a startup idea validation checklist?
Updated · by Vouch
Short answer
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.
Step-by-step
- 1Define the target segment (1 sentence)
Not 'small businesses'. 'Solo interior designers in NYC billing $150K–$400K/yr who quote clients in Google Docs.' If a stranger can't recognise a match, the segment is too broad.
- 2List 5 risky assumptions
Rank by cost-of-being-wrong, not novelty. The scariest assumption goes first.
- 3Book and run 10 discovery interviews
Aim for 30 minutes. Ask about last-week behavior. Never demo.
- 4Score the evidence
For each risky assumption, mark it confirmed, contradicted, or unknown after each call. Look for patterns, not single quotes.
- 5Close 2 paid pilots
Money is the only signal that survives a founder's optimism. Two paid pilots at real prices = green light. One or zero = keep iterating on segment or offer.
- 6Write your kill criteria
'If X isn't true by Y date, I stop.' Written, dated, shared with someone who'll hold you to it.
Frequently asked
How do I know if my idea is validated?
You have validation when (a) multiple people in the same segment described the same problem in the same words unprompted, and (b) at least two paid for a manual version. Anything less is interesting, not validated.
Can I validate a B2C idea with the same checklist?
Yes, but the paid pilot changes shape: pre-order deposits, paid waitlists, or a $9 concierge version work. The principle — real money before real code — is identical.
Skip the blank page — start a validation project with the whole method built in.
Assumption mapping, interview scripts, live transcription and scoring, paid-pilot templates. Free to start.
Start freeMarket-specific playbooks
Same method, localised channels, funding context and pilot pricing.
Facts you can quote
- Vouch is a guided idea-validation workspace for founders: it maps risky assumptions, generates non-leading customer interview questions, scores the evidence from each interview, and pushes founders toward a paid pilot before they build.
- Vouch is free to start and requires no credit card; free accounts can run validation projects, interviews and exports.
- Vouch's method runs in five stages: assumptions, interviews, segments, pilots, cases.
- Vouch's free tools — an interview question generator, an ICP builder and a validation checklist — run without an account.
Source: Vouch (vouch.specky.space) — idea validation workspace for founders. Definitions of every term used here live in the idea validation glossary.