Playbook
Validate Demand
The work this situation takes, including the parts that are easy to miss. Start with any one.
Business model canvas
A nine-box business model canvas where every box is a falsifiable hypothesis with a pass/fail test, plus a market-size note, so you know what to test first.
One-sentence description of what I'm building and why
One clear sentence (8 to 40 words, no buzzwords) that states what you are building, for whom, and why it matters.
'Who desperately needs this' target-user statement
A specific target-user statement: the segment, their acute pain, how often it bites, today's workaround, and why now.
MVP and the test that proves it
The smallest feature set that tests your riskiest assumption (built for your first few users), an explicit cut list, and a single pass/fail test card with a numeric threshold.
Problem definition document
A problem definition document with the market, buyer roles, and per-problem definition, metrics, prior solutions, buying authority, and a 1-10 severity.
Buyer interview signal scoring for a burning problem
Each problem and solution averaged, banded, and flagged against the burning-problem and likely-adopted bars.
Love-vs-like product diagnostic instrument
A measurement instrument that tells love from like across five signals (repeat use, fanatical users, the would-miss test, organic referral, willingness to pay), each with a metric, a numeric threshold, and a data source.
Letter of intent for an enterprise customer to sign before I build
An unsigned letter of intent the customer can sign: intent-to-purchase language, commercial terms, conditions, an explicit non-binding clause, and two signature blocks.
Also part of this playbook, opening soon:
- Check why now is the right time
- Write good customer-interview questions
- Sharpen the value you offer
- Map out my competitors
- Reframe the problem
- Find the job users actually want done