This document discusses three levels of validating startup ideas: surveys asking "Do you like my idea?", situational methods like focus groups, and doing things that don't scale like direct sales. It emphasizes that to recognize opportunities, you need to validate that people actually want what you plan to make, rather than just playing house. You should ask people for feedback and funding to learn the truth about an idea, rather than for money itself.

1. Opportunity Recognition
How to test and validate startup ideas.
Mitch Robinson

2. @mitchrobs

3. About Me

4. Cognitive Biases & Opportunity Validation

5. Cognitive Biases & Opportunity Validation
3 Levels of Validation:
Survey’s & “Do You Like My Idea”
Situational Methods
Doing Things That Don’t Scale

7. What you want to do vs. what
you should do.
It’s not easy, and naturally we’ll want to “play house”.
Starting a startup is where “playing the game” stops working.

8. Opportunity recognition, at it’s core,
is validating that people want what you’re going to make.

9. “Make something people want.”
– Paul Graham

10. If you want to build something that
people want, you need to know
what they want.

11. Don’t ask people for money because you want money.
Ask for money because you want the truth.

13. Questions?

14. Read More or Contact:
mitch@innoblue.org
mitchrobs.com
https://medium.com/@MitchRobs
http://startupclass.samaltman.com/
http://paulgraham.com/articles.html
https://thisisworkshop.com/