1. Test fast, die cheap
Як закривати гештальти швидко та не забивати собі голову
“геніальними” ідеями

2. Statistics show that 90% of startups fail, and I bet those of 90% wish they had failed
fast and cheap.
● 34% fail because of a lack of Product/Market fit.
● 22% fail because of marketing problems.
If we want to fail efficiently, it makes sense to target these two vulnerabilities. There's a 50%
probability of success 🙂
If your idea survives all the validations it is worth pursuing, and there is a strong chance that
it may turn into a successful startup.
Startups' sad survival rate

3. Building MVP
● Costly
● Time-consuming
● Requires team for implementation
This may not be the most effective method for lonely assassins on a budget 🙂
What’s wrong with the Lean Startup approach?

4. What do I offer
I offer an alternative method where creating an MVP is merely one of several techniques used to prove
the idea is wrong.
In many cases you:
● Can do it on your own without any help.
● Keep within a budget of $100 to $1,000.
But before you start, ensure that your idea is feasible at all – is it possible to implement it? 🙂
What’s wrong with the Lean Startup approach?

5. 1. Problem
● What is client trying to achieve? – Outcome
● Why does client want this? – Motivation
● Why can’t they do this today? – Problem
2. Target Audience
● Early adopters – Most acute problem to solve,
greatest ease of reach
● Future audience
Step 1. Know your enemy.
Define your Product/Market Fit
Hypothesis (PMFH) in four
aspects

6. 3. Value Proposition
● Describe why the customer should buy your product or
service.
● Think in terms of benefits instead of features.
4. Business Model
● Revenue streams: sources of revenue, e.g.,
subscriptions, ads, etc.
● Pricing: willingness to pay and payment model
● Lifetime value: the average revenue that a
customer will generate throughout their lifespan
● Cost structure: fixed and variable costs
Step 1. Know your enemy.
Define your Product/Market Fit
Hypothesis (PMFH) in four
aspects

7. Are you still interested in moving forward?
● Compose a landing page.
● Give it a 2 days break.
● Examine it meticulously.
Again: are you REALLY still interested in moving
forward?
Step 1. Know your enemy.
Define your Product/Market Fit
Hypothesis (PMFH) in four
aspects

8. Part 1. Identify and prioritize the riskiest
aspects
Market research and expert advice
● Pressure test product strategy and identify
the vulnerabilities.
● Consider all the possible competitors:
direct, indirect, and adjacent.
● Obtain insights from experts in the fields.
● Unsurprisingly, a lot of ideas die here.
Now we can update our PMFH with the
information gathered.
Step 2. It seems like a hard nut
to crack.
Let's identify any vulnerabilities
and attempt to exploit them.

9. PMFH interview
1. Prepare
● Participants: Include both early adopters and
future audiences, with up to 5 participants per
segment.
● Source: Own network, Facebook, LinkedIn,
Instagram, Reddit, etc.
● Reach out: Brevity, problem-led messaging,
and emphasis on conversation, not sales.
2. Conduct
● Unaided questions
● Aided questions
● Repeat the process across all four aspects.
3. Debrief
Step 2. It seems like a hard nut
to crack.
Let's identify any vulnerabilities
and attempt to exploit them.

10. We can now update the Product/Market Fit
Hypothesis once again.
And determine the riskiest aspects:
● What were the aspects with the most variation
in participants' responses?
● Which aspects had responses that greatly
differed from our initial assumptions?
Step 2. It seems like a hard nut
to crack.
Let's identify any vulnerabilities
and attempt to exploit them.

11. Part 2. Test the riskiest assumptions with targeted validation
techniques
Speed
● High – days
● Medium – weeks
● Low – months
Cost
● High – $10k+
● Medium – $1k+
● Low – $100+
Problem Target
Audience
Value
Proposition
Business
Model
Surveys + + + +
Smoke tests + + +
Prototypes +
Pre-sales + + +
Product tests + +

12. Problem and Value Proposition:
Surveys allow us to evaluate if participants experience
the identified problem and resonate with our proposed
value propositions.
Target Audience:
This helps confirm our target audience by querying
important customer attributes and aligning customer
segments with our proposed product strategy.
Business Model:
Utilize targeted survey methods, like the Van
Westendorp Pricing Model, to confirm a business
model and guide pricing and packaging choices.
Surveys
Use early when you can easily
access users

13. Speed: Medium. Can be written quickly; wait for
responses
Cost: Medium. Assumes we do not have an existing
audience base
Surveys, used after PMFH interviews, validate those
findings on a larger scale, reaching hundreds or even
thousands of potential customers. However, they
should not replace PMF interviews due to their lack of
depth.
Surveys
Use early when you can easily
access users

14. Fake Door Tests
In product expansion, a less detailed invitation is often
used for introducing new features or products.
Landing Page Tests
This refers to a detailed product exploration invitation
that may occasionally include initial screenshots,
explanatory videos, or pricing information.
Smoke tests
Use as an alternative to
surveys when you can't easily
access users

15. Problem and Value Proposition:
Measuring conversion rates gives a sense of how well
our problem to solve and value proposition resonate.
Target Audience:
By driving customer segments to the landing page or
fake door, we can validate the target audience.
Speed: High. Only requires building a single page
Cost: Medium. Low cost to develop, ad budget required
Smoke tests
Use as an alternative to
surveys when you can't easily
access users

16. Experience Prototypes
Low to High fidelity; test user experience, user flow, and
high-level value proposition.
Value Proposition:
A prototype can communicate the value of a product
more effectively than words alone. By interacting with a
prototype, potential customers can gain a deeper
understanding of the product, leading to more detailed
feedback about its value proposition.
Speed: Medium. Time to develop and iterate.
Cost: Medium. Designer and engineering resources.
Prototypes
Use when your riskiest
hypothesis is value
deliverability

17. B2B
In B2B pre-sales, we present a detailed sales pitch and
then ask for a commitment, typically a Letter of Intent
(LOI), indicating a non-binding agreement to purchase
the product at a set price when available.
B2C
B2C pre-sales often involve crowdfunding on platforms
like Kickstarter, where customers pre-purchase the
product before its availability. An impactful campaign
usually includes a video to promote the product and its
vision.
Pre-sales
Use when your riskiest
hypothesis is a willingness to
pay or pricing validity

18. Business Model, Problem, Value Proposition:
Pre-sales validate the business model and pricing by
gauging customers' willingness to pay. It also assesses
the severity of the problem being addressed and
determines if the value proposition is compelling enough
to stand out from competitors.
Speed: Medium. It can take weeks to make a quality
pitch.
Cost: Medium. Requires significant design and
marketing resources
Pre-sales
Use when your riskiest
hypothesis is a willingness to
pay or pricing validity

19. No-code MVP
A no-code MVP, as the name implies, requires no
coding, instead building an initial product using no-code
tools to simulate the product experience.
Wizard of Oz Test
A Wizard of Oz test requires little coding. While the
product appears fully automatic on the front-end, some
aspects are actually run manually on the backend, like
the wizard behind the curtain in Oz.
MVP
An MVP requires a fair amount of coding to bring to life
an early version of our product, stripped down to the
bare essential functionality.
Product tests (here is an MVP)
Use to measure actual user
behavior

20. Value Proposition:
Measures user behavior to get a signal on value
proposition and competitive advantage.
Business Model:
Validates business model if we include pricing and force
a paywall in the product.
Speed: Low. It takes significant time to build a product
Cost: High. Requires design and engineering
Product tests (here is an MVP)
Use to measure actual user
behavior

21. If your idea has managed to survive through all these
challenges, well done! It's time to progress to the next stage:
gather a team, seek out financial support, and all the stuff 🙂
Step 3.
You are done. Are you?

22. References
Building a StoryBrand, Donald Miller
The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when
everyone is lying to you, Rob Fitzpatrick
The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products that Win, Steve Blank
The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects, Andrew Chen
Finding Product/Market Fit, ReForge Program