This document discusses lean validation, which is a process startups use to test business ideas through low-cost experiments before launching a product. It involves systematically testing hypotheses to find product-market fit by determining if there is a problem, market, and customers willing to pay. Examples of lean validation techniques include customer interviews, pre-selling to gauge interest, building prototypes, and creating fake websites or services to validate interest without fully developing the product. The goal is to get customer feedback and validate assumptions quickly through an iterative process to refine ideas before committing large resources.

2. LEAN VALIDATION

3. WE DO LEAN VALIDATION TO
FIND A PRODUCT/MARKET FIT

4. 4
• Is your idea solving a problem? If so, what is it?
• Is there a market for it?
• Who are the people buying your product/service and
how much are they willing to pay?
• Why should anyone care?
PRODUCT/MARKET FIT MEANS FINDING
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS LIKE:

5. “WE HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR A
BUSINESS, IT’S GOING TO BE GREAT…”
SOUNDS FAMILIAR?

6. AFTER THE LAUNCH…
“NO BUSINESS PLAN
SURVIVES FIRST CONTACT
WITH A CUSTOMER”
– STEPHEN BLANK

7. IF YOU’VE BEING ASKING
FRIENDS ABOUT YOUR IDEA
AND THEY SAY THEY LIKE IT…
I GOT NEWS FOR YOU…

8. LIKING IT IS NOT THE SAME
AS PAYING FOR IT

9. YOU NEED THIS REACTION:
SHUT UP AND TAKE
MY MONEY!

10. “…BUT WE SPENT HOURS
BRAINSTORMING, IT SHOULD WORK…”
SOUNDS FAMILIAR?

11. YOUR ASSUMPTIONS ARE NOT
NECESSARILY TRUE. YOU NEED
TO VALIDATE WITH EVIDENCE.

12. BECAUSE STARTUPS
ARE NOT A SMALLER
VERSION OF A BIG
COMPANY AND HAVE
LIMITED RESOURCES,
THEY CAME UP WITH A
PRODUCT/SERVICE
DEVELOPMENT
APPROACH WHICH IS
CHEAPER AND FASTER.

13. TO MAKE THE BEST USE OF THE LIMITED:
TIMEMONEY RESOURCES

14. TO VALIDATE YOUR BUSINESS
IDEA, WE DEVICE A SERIES OF
EXPERIMENTS THAT HELP YOU
SYSTEMATICALLY REFINE
PRODUCTS, BEFORE LAUNCH

15. SCIENTIFIC
APPROACH /
LOW COST
EXPERIMENTS
TO TEST YOUR
HYPOTHESIS

16. HYPOTHESIS =
GUESS
“HYPOTHESIS” IS JUST A FANCY WORD FOR “GUESS”

17. 17
IN ESSENCE IT IS BASED ON THIS:
TRY SOMETHING…
DOES IT WORK?
YES? GREAT
NO? OK, WHAT
DID WE
DISCOVER?
OK, LET’S TRY
THIS OTHER
THING NOW…

18. 18
IN ESSENCE IT IS BASED ON THIS:
YOUR IDEA LAUNCH
QUICK AND SMALL
ITERATIONS

19. METHODS TO TEST YOUR HYPOTHESIS:
INTERVIEW
PRE-SELL
CONCIERGE
PROTOTYPE
IDEA

20. HERE’S AN EXAMPLE…

21. MAURO.
WORKS IN MUNICH
THROUGHOUT THE
WEEK AND GOES
HOME ON WEEKENDS.
HE WOULD LIKE TO
STORE PERSONAL
ITEMS BUT DOESN’T
HAVE THE SPACE.
EXAMPLE

24. COMES TO THE WEB
PAGE AND SIGNS UP TO
BE NOTIFIED WHEN THE
SERVICE IS AVAILABLE…

25. WHAT MAURO DIDN’T KNOW:
1.THE WEBSITE IS FAKE.
2.THERE IS NO COMPANY, OR
PRODUCT OR SERVICE YET.

26. 26
• It validates that there is a market willing to pay or at
least try the service
• Once we start building a client database we can start
asking them questions and making further
experiments (Customer development)
• Most likely, people on the database will become first
customers and multipliers. Low marketing costs
• You are validating without having to build the
product/service first
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

27. MOST LIKELY
MAURO WILL
BECOME A PAYING
CUSTOMER AND
RECOMMEND TO HIS
CLOSE NETWORK.
EXAMPLE

28. HOW TO KEEP TRACK?

29. DESIGNED FOR: DESIGNED BY: DATE: ITERATION:
LEAN VALIDATION BOARD
EXPERIMENTS 2 3 4 5
CUSTOMER
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
RISKIEST
ASSUMPTION
RESULT &
DECISION
LEARNING
1
GET OUT OF THE F*KNG BUILDING

30. DESIGNED FOR: DESIGNED BY:
LEAN VALIDATION BOARD
EXPERIMENTS 2 3 4
CUSTOMER
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
RISKIEST
ASSUMPTION
RESULT &
DECISION
1
GET OUT OF THE F*KNG

31. DESIGNED FOR: DESIGNED BY:
LEAN VALIDATION BOARD
EXPERIMENTS 2 3 4
CUSTOMER
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
RISKIEST
ASSUMPTION
RESULT &
DECISION
1
GET OUT OF THE F*KNG

32. WE SEND OUR MINIONS TO THE STREETS…

33. PROBLEM
SOLUTION
RISKIEST
ASSUMPTION
RESULT &
DECISION
LEARNING
GET OUT OF THE F*KNG

34. LEAN VALIDATION IS A CONTINUOUS
PROCESS. IT HAS A BEGINNING BUT
NOT AN END. THIS PROCESS WILL
CONTINUE EVEN AFTER YOU LAUNCH
YOUR BUSINESS.

36. THANK YOU

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