Founder Life 
Get help with validating your startup idea so you don’t build something nobody wants
Facing a similar challenge?
- Talk to someone who has been there before
- Get unbiased insight from industry veterans
- Work through the issue with a mentor by your side
The biggest mistakes founders make is falling madly in love with their business idea, to the point where they think there’s no point in validating it.
Don’t fall victim to founder bias.
It’s no surprise why +90% of new startups will end up failing.
One of the biggest hurdles to overcome in the ideation stage is having a clear idea of the problem you’re trying to solve, and a clear vision of how your business/product will solve that problem.
For example, if you’re thinking of a B2B SaaS application, you would want to thoroughly understand the workflow you’re trying to improve, and understand how solving that workflow’s issues impacts your potential clients’ businesses.
Ask yourself:
- Is the workflow issue a problem your potential clients are aware of?
- Is it a problem they would pay to fix?
- Will the impact of your “solution” be measurable? How?
At this startup stage, any feedback can help you uncover perspectives that you haven’t considered. Even something as simple as talking to people in your peer group could be a useful way to flesh your ideas out and take you closer to building something concrete.
If you’re looking for a mentor at this stage, and you definitely should be, consider looking for someone with industry experience that has the patience to brainstorm with you. Having someone that can challenge your assumptions will help you develop your ideas. This will be key to evaluating your business idea and more importantly to build a foundation that makes going from concept to action more feasible.
MENTORS WE RECOMMEND FOR THIS TOPIC
Jonathan Bree
Founder at wfh.land
I headed up a UK messaging app and grew it to its first 1 million users. I've launched 20 startup experiments and guided companies including Samsung, LEGO and more. If you want to efficiently build a product that solves user goals, retains users and generates more revenue – let's chat!
Jonathan has a deep understanding of product development. I love chatting about product stuff with him. I wanted his expert advice on my new positioning and product concept. I got much clearer after chatting with him. Definitely book him to talk about your product.
Aazar Ali Shad
Head of Growth at Userpilot
Jonathan took the time to understand what I was looking for help on and then gave me some really great suggestions. He also took the time to share some insight on some cool projects he’s working on. Really enjoyed it.
Martin Gorrie
Founder at AVA Digital Marketing
Anand Chowdhary
Co-founder and CEO of Oswald Labs
I've been building and launching products for as long as I can remember and have experimented with several types of business models, including B2B SaaS, B2C smartphone apps, open source monetization, etc. As a full-stack maker of several tools, including a #1 Product Hunt open-source product, I can help guide the big-picture vision and make informed decisions by writing OKRs, brainstorming KPIs, building teams, and launching products.
“Very good session 🙂 Energetic, full on it, driven and motivated. Gave clear direction and alternatives to my proposed idea of a validation track/incubator program. This is one of the types that loves mentoring for the energy that it gives him.”
David Kellerman
Owner and Lean Startup Coach at Growth Mind
“Anand just immediately gets what I’m trying to do, with minimal explanation, and had some really solid advice on future direction. Super smart guy.”
Michael Taylor
Owner at Saxifrage
Had a great conversation with Alex regarding product market fit for an online course I’m building. The main lesson I got from the call was: I shouldn’t be worrying too much about analytics and metrics at this initial stage and should instead focus on getting customers over the phone to simply talk to them. Would 100% recommend Alex as a mentor for anyone in the process of product development. By the way, he’s got a great book on this topic on Amazon: it’s called Building Digital Products.
reviewed by
Henrique de Melo
Founder at Melo Marketing
Mentor Alex Mitchell
Kosta is friendly, patient, and understood our marketing goals for our new Saas. He offered a unique approach to get the word out about it – traditional sales – which I thought was brilliant. He had valid ideas and mentioned some data to look into that approach. He was very easy to talk with and said I could reach out whenever to share our progress. If you get the chance to bounce ideas around with him, I recommend it.
reviewed by
Kirk Deis
CEO and Co-founder at Treehouse
Mentor Kosta Panagoulias