Validate before you build
An actual test of whether strangers will put money or commitment on the line — not a guess, not “launch and see.” It rolls up into one clear call: Go, Iterate, or Kill. About three weeks, mostly on weekends, for the price of a few coffees a month. Not your savings.
Free while we’re building it. Sign up with email — no card.
Free while we’re building it · About three weeks · Built for South Africa
Demand test
Will a stranger commit money or their name?
Validation Brief · p.1
exportableOne clear call, backed by the evidence — hand it to a mentor, a partner, or your future self.
Demand test
Will a stranger commit money or their name?
Validation Brief · p.1
exportableOne clear call, backed by the evidence — hand it to a mentor, a partner, or your future self.
0%
of startups fail because nobody actually wanted the product. (CB Insights)
0–80%
of new SA businesses don’t survive their first two years. (Stellenbosch)
0
real customer conversations is all it takes to see the truth.
Another feature. A new logo. A polished deck. Meanwhile the one question that matters — will a stranger pay? — stays unasked.
Likes, WhatsApp-group hype, and “I’d totally use that” aren’t demand. They’re applause. Demand is when someone commits time, money, or their name.
Lock the call in writing before you spend a rand: cheap experiments you can run this week, then a clear Go / Iterate / Kill.
How it works
List the beliefs your idea is riding on — then rank the riskiest one first.
Five real customer conversations plus one small demand test, matched to your kind of business. Weekends, not years. Rand, not savings — a R3–5k test floor, not a funded launch.
Your evidence rolls up into a deterministic Go / Iterate / Kill call — a one-page brief you can export and hand to a mentor, a partner, or your future self.
What you get
See which belief, if wrong, kills the whole idea — and test that one first.
Word-for-word openers (including WhatsApp) that get honest answers, not polite lies.
Service, product, app, course, marketplace — the right cheap test for yours.
Decide what “yes” looks like before you see the data, so you can’t fool yourself.
Export to Word, hand it over. A verdict with the evidence behind it.
42% of startups fail because nobody wanted the product. 60–80% of new South African businesses don’t survive their first two years. This is the cheap way to find out which side you’re on — before you spend the savings.
The same one-page verdict founders use to decide whether to quit the day job — or save it.
Maybe it is. Treat that as a hypothesis for three weeks — this is the cheap way to prove it for real instead of hoping.
About three weeks. Most of it is real-world conversations and a short demand test you run on weekends.
The path is free while we’re building it. Your only real spend is an optional demand test — a R3–5k ceiling, not your savings.
Great sign — and not enough. Compliments are noise; commitment is signal. This turns the love into evidence.
A one-page Go / Iterate / Kill verdict, backed by evidence, that you can export and hand to a mentor or partner.
Three weeks. A few coffees a month. A clear answer you can defend.
Sign up with email — no card.