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Validate Before You Build

By Win Win Jan 5, 2026
Validate Before You Build

A practical checklist for proving demand without spending months building the wrong thing.

Startups don't fail because the founders can't build. They fail because they build too early.


The validation checklist

  • 10 user conversations (with notes)
  • A landing page with a clear promise
  • One ask: email signup, deposit, or LOI
Validation checklist

Story: the fastest way to waste six months

A team falls in love with a feature set. They build quietly. They launch loudly. The market shrugs. The fix usually isn't “more features.” It's choosing one painful problem and proving people want it solved.

Quick win: Write a one-sentence offer. If your team can't agree on it, the product isn't clear yet.


Quick checklist

  • 10 conversations
  • One landing page
  • One clear metric
  • One small experiment

Common mistakes

  • Building before validating
  • Measuring activity instead of value
  • Confusing interest with commitment

Next step

Pick one idea from this post and test it this week. The fastest way to get value is to turn it into a deliverable you can show someone.