The advice you won’t hear on startup panels—but absolutely need.
So you’ve got a startup idea.
Maybe it came from personal pain. Perhaps it struck during a commute, a conversation, or a sleepless night.
It feels big. You’re excited. Maybe others are too—advisors, a couple of angels, even an accelerator or two. You’ve polished the pitch. You’ve got a business plan. You’re building the deck.
But here’s the tough question: Have five strangers paid you—unprompted—for a solution to a real problem?
If the answer is no, you haven’t validated your idea. You’ve just built a story around it.
Let’s fix that. Here’s how to validate your startup idea—no vanity metrics, no pitch theatre, no wasted years.
What Validation Isn’t
Before diving into the right approach, let’s clarify the wrong ones. These are the false signals that trap founders in years of delusion:
- “We had great feedback from an accelerator.”
- “An investor said to keep them updated.”
- “My LinkedIn post got tons of engagement.”
- “We got a small grant.”
- “A mentor said it’s a great idea.”
- “I’ve experienced the pain myself.”
None of these proves there’s a market. They only prove you’ve found polite people.
What Validation Is
Validation means proving that someone who doesn’t know you has a painful problem, sees value in your solution, and acts on it. That act might be:
- Paying money
- Committing time
- Signing up without hand-holding
- Giving you insights in their own words, not yours
If you haven’t earned one of those, you’re still guessing.
How to Validate Your Startup Idea The Right Way
1. Forget the pitch. Start with real user discovery.
Most founders skip this. They assume they already know the problem, usually because they’ve lived it.
That’s not enough.
You’re not your customer. You have context, insight, and bias, but they don’t.
Instead:
- Conduct 10+ Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) interviews
- Map the Four Forces of Progress: What pushes users to change? What pulls users to alternatives? What anxieties block users? What habits hold users back?
You’ll learn what truly matters and what doesn’t.
2. Validate the problem before the solution.
Many founders build too soon. They ship something no one asked for.
Instead, get clear on:
- What are users trying to achieve?
- What’s frustrating about current solutions?
- What have users tried before, and why didn’t it work?
- What language do users use when describing the pain?
Until this is nailed, your “solution” is a shot in the dark.
3. Build something testable, not perfect.
You don’t need a polished app. You need a signal.
A Google Doc offer. A Stripe link. A mockup with a Calendly form. A scrappy* landing page with clear messaging.
Whatever helps you say: “Here’s what I’ve got. Want it?”
It also gives the user a chance to say: “Yes. Here’s my card.”
Very few founders ship an actual product or get it into the hands of real users. Traction becomes an afterthought.
* Still, keep in mind that users expect a minimum standard. Scrappy, not crappy!
4. Measure what strangers do.
Validation doesn’t come from friends. Or ex-colleagues. Or your startup circle.
It comes from cold, uninterested users who:
- Discover your offer
- Understand it
- Take action with no strings attached
That’s where honest feedback begins.
5. Be brave enough to let your idea break.
This is the part nobody says aloud.
If you validate correctly, there’s a real chance your idea won’t hold up. And that’s a win.
Cognitive dissonance avoidance keeps people building what no one wants. It’s easier to maintain the dream than confront evidence of disinterest.
Let the market show you where you’re wrong so you can pivot toward what’s right.
The Ecosystem Won’t Save You
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Most startup ecosystems are supportive in a constructive way. They might applaud your deck. Celebrate your selection. Invite you to the panels. Share your posts.
And still, no customers = no revenue = no traction.
Grants and ecosystem support sometimes (inadvertently) sustain the illusion, not the business.
You must choose: praise or progress.
TL;DR – How to Validate Your Startup Idea for Real
- Interview 10+ strangers using JTBD + 4 Forces
- Validate pain, not just your hunch
- Build something rough, testable, and fast
- Get honest reactions from people you don’t know
- Let feedback change your mind
- Only then, start building
- Only then, start raising
Ready to Validate the Right Way?
At Unlock Growth, I help early-stage founders cut through the noise and test their ideas the smart way:
- Structured JTBD interviews
- Four Forces of Progress mapping
- Messaging that sticks and converts
- A strategy rooted in customer truth
Message me if you’re serious about validation.