Customer validation

<p>Once the <a class="wikilink" href="/customer_discovery/">Customer Discovery</a> phase is complete (if it can ever be truly complete), we need to validate whether the insights we have can <em>scale</em>. Scale in the sense that the same product and the same pitch can be used again and again to different customers. </p> <ul> <li>Is there a set of customers that will buy?</li> <li>Is the product acceptable to customers? </li> <li>Is there serious, measurable purchase intent? </li> </ul> <p>Here we really move from <a class="wikilink" href="/minimum_viable_prototype/">minimum viable prototype</a> to <a class="wikilink" href="/minimum_viable_product/">minimum viable product</a>, and validate our <a class="wikilink" href="/business_model/">business model</a> in its integrity. Do we have the distribution channels we need, do we have the partners necessary to support the product, etc. </p> <p>Be aware that sales professionals who are not used to startups, they execute on a known business model. They assume there's a repetitive process to get new customers. However, <a class="wikilink" href="/startups_are_not_scaled_down_versions_of_companies/">Startups are not scaled down versions of companies</a>, and they are still searching for a <em>model</em>. And this <strong>search</strong> is what makes it a critical distinction. </p> <p>If you try to execute before having a <a class="wikilink" href="/sales_roadmap/">sales roadmap</a> it'll be suicidal. </p> <p>It is important that <a class="wikilink" href="/founders_must_lead_customer_validation/">founders must lead customer validation</a>, in a similar way that <a class="wikilink" href="/founders_have_a_fundamental_role_in_customer_discovery/">Founders have a fundamental role in customer discovery</a>. </p> <p>Sales must be targeted to <a class="wikilink" href="/earlyvangelist/">earlyvangelist</a>, if they are not buying the product, there's no point in moving forward, because it'll just get harder from there onward. </p> <p>Learning what to ignore from customer feedback is as important to knowing what to focus on. Most likely, the key aspects are going to be: value proposition, customer relationships, channel, and revenue model. </p> <p>Which brings us to the next phase of <a class="wikilink" href="/customer_creation/">Customer Creation</a></p>