Aurum
Download

Startup Idea Validation

A written problem hypothesis, ranked assumptions and kill criteria, then the research, problem conversations and cheap experiments that tell you whether the idea deserves building.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Startup Idea Validation, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

200

Starter tasks

🚀 Founding & Startups

Startup Idea Validation

Testing whether a startup idea solves a real, painful problem before building, through research, interviews and cheap experiments.

  1. One-page problem hypothesis for the idea
  2. Assumption map ranked by risk and evidence
  3. Kill criteria written before testing starts
  4. Validation time and money budget
  5. Founder and problem fit self check
  6. Evidence log for every validation signal
  7. Desk research on how the problem shows up online
  8. Map of current alternatives and workarounds
  9. Bottom-up count of reachable buyers
  10. Friday validation review
  11. Monthly assumption map refresh
  12. Weekly pain signal sweep
  13. Monday target for problem conversations
  14. Monthly kill criteria checkpoint
  15. Idea backlog with quarterly triage
  16. Monthly watch on alternatives and new entrants
  17. Experiment card for every test
  18. Monthly call with a friendly sceptic
  19. Spotting false positives in validation evidence
  20. Writing falsifiable hypotheses
  21. Reading search and social data as demand signals
  22. Short survey to size a problem already heard
  23. Mapping who pays and from which budget
  24. Jobs to be done framing of the problem
  25. Reading small numbers honestly
  26. Concierge test delivering the outcome by hand
  27. Wizard of Oz test with a manual back end
  28. Clickable mock walkthrough with target users
  29. Letters of intent from business buyers
  30. Three idea variants on one scorecard
  31. Choosing one beachhead segment to test
  32. Go, change or kill decision memo
  33. Pre-mortem on the idea
  34. Five-day validation sprint
  35. Problem hunting at an industry event
  36. Evidence review with a founder panel
  37. Startup weekend or validation workshop
  38. Expert call day with industry insiders
  39. Validating while holding a full-time job
  40. Technical founder resisting the urge to build
  41. Validating an idea in a regulated market
  42. Validating a low-price consumer idea
  43. Validating for a small or island market
  44. Validating an idea from your own industry
  45. Interviewing people who abandoned existing solutions
  46. Testing both sides of a marketplace idea
  47. Technical feasibility spike beside demand tests
  48. Cost of the problem model for business buyers
  49. Validation evidence pack for backers
  50. Personal validation playbook from past ideas

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

One-page problem hypothesis for the idea

Most ideas arrive as a solution (an app that does X) rather than a problem someone has. Writing one page that names the person, the painful moment, how often it happens and what it costs them today turns a vague excitement into something you can actually test, and it is the page every later experiment refers back to.

First tasks

  • Write the idea as one sentence about a problem, with no product in it
  • Describe how someone copes with the problem today, step by step
  • Estimate how often the problem happens and what it costs each time
  • List three real people who match the customer you described

Assumption map ranked by risk and evidence

Every idea rests on a stack of beliefs: that the problem is frequent, that people know they have it, that they would switch, that someone can pay. Listing them all and plotting each by how fatal it would be if wrong against how much evidence you have shows which two or three to test first, so the cheapest tests go at the riskiest beliefs.

First tasks

  • Brainstorm every belief the idea needs to be true for twenty minutes
  • Sort the beliefs into desirability, viability and feasibility
  • Score each belief for impact if wrong and for evidence held
  • Pick the three riskiest beliefs and sketch a cheap test for each

Kill criteria written before testing starts

Once you have told friends about the idea and bought the domain, almost any result starts to look encouraging. Writing down in advance what evidence would make you stop, such as fewer than five of twenty people describing the problem unprompted, protects the decision from your own enthusiasm and saves months.

First tasks

  • Finish the sentence I will stop if, three different ways
  • Turn each stop condition into a number or an observable fact
  • Set a check date for each criterion
  • Send the criteria to one person who will ask you about them

Make it yours.

Install Startup Idea Validation, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.