The Seven Minute Startup: Simple Business Feasibility Modelling before the MVP

Speaking to experienced entrepreneurs, they often seem to have a magic sense for whether a business idea will work based on some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations. When I first got started in marketing, this seemed like some sort of wizardry. How could you possibly know if a decent-sounding idea was going to be feasible so quickly?

For a long time, my understanding was if you had a new business idea, the best way to test it would be to take it through the lean validation gauntlet by validating the problem, market, product (by building an minimum viable product (MVP)) and willingness to pay. Here is a great guide on lean for those unfamiliar.

But there’s a step before all of that. While a seven day startup is a huge improvement in failing fast compared to what entrepreneurs had to go through thirty years ago, there is an even faster way to crash test your ideas before you commit time and energy to them.

The limits (and woes) of lean validation.

Lean is still the gold standard for validating new business ideas, and you should definitely use it. It’s a fantastic way to shine a light on the uncertain areas that often kill a business in it’s early stages, and it’s the best tool out there for helping find…