Validation & MVP

This area covers how founders checked demand before and just after building: talking to customers, taking money early, landing pages and content tests, shipping a first version and reading product-market fit.

Three ideas have the broadest support. Ship fast: the most commonly quoted MVP build time is about two weeks, and perfectionism is the mistake founders name most often (Samuel Rondot · Samuel Rondot (Jul 2025) ▶ 11:23) (Diego Roshardt · Diego Roshardt (Jul 2025) ▶ 02:11) (Connor Burd · Connor Burd (Oct 2025) ▶ 05:50). Payment is the only real validation, so charge early or pre-sell (Timo Nikolai · Josef Buettgen & Timo Nikolai (Sep 2025) ▶ 04:14) (Gil Hildebrand · Gil Hildebrand (Dec 2025) ▶ 08:06). And talk to users about what they do now, never “would you use this?” (Tibo · Tibo (Dec 2025) ▶ 04:47) (Gaurav · Gaurav (Aug 2026) ▶ 10:50). All build times are self-reported, and fast MVPs that failed are rarely featured.

The main debate is how rough a first version can be. One camp says to be embarrassed by v1 and ship it buggy if the core works (Ken · Ken (Sep 2026) ▶ 12:56) (Sam Adeniyi · Sam Adeniyi (Jan 2026) ▶ 05:10); the other says to cut scope, not quality, because a poorly designed core will flop (Lane Wagner · Lane Wagner (Apr 2025) ▶ 05:52) (Joseph · Joseph (Mar 2026) ▶ 10:41).

Start with the step-by-step Validate before you build, then read MVP and shipping fast, Sell before you build and Talking to customers. For deciding when an idea should die, see Validation targets and kill criteria.

Pages in this area

Covered as sections of other pages: Pivots & changing direction → Product-market fit.

Live debates

• Does the idea need to go viral to be validated? — see Content first, product later
• Should you start with your personal network? — see Talking to customers
• Are paid ads a valid way to test demand? — see Researching demand before you build
• How rough can an MVP be? — see MVP and shipping fast
• Should a pre-sale be refundable? — see Sell before you build
• Is a free beta before charging acceptable? — see Sell before you build
• Do sales to friends count? — see Sell before you build
• When an app is stuck, is the problem the product or the distribution? — see Product-market fit
• Can you simply feel product-market fit, or must it be measured? — see Product-market fit
• Must the validation signal be payment? — see Validation targets and kill criteria

Blueprints

• Validate before you build