So, you’ve got a business idea and maybe even a product. Awesome! But before you get too attached to your vision, let’s hit pause. Phase 1 — also called the Discovery Phase — is about ensuring your idea solves a real problem for real people. This is where the magic (and a lot of learning) happens.

Why Phase 1 Matters in Startup Development

Many startups fail not because they couldn’t build something, but because they built something nobody needed. Discovery helps you avoid becoming a statistic by aligning your product with actual customer pain points.

What is Problem/Solution Fit?

Problem/Solution fit is when you clearly understand a customer problem and have confirmed that your idea genuinely solves it. It’s the foundation before Product/Pioneer Fit. Think of it as building the right thing before building the thing right.

The Power of Lean Validation

What is Lean Validation?

Lean validation is a methodical process to test assumptions quickly and inexpensively. It keeps you grounded in reality and ensures you're not wasting time and resources building the wrong product.

Why Startups Need Evidence-Based Foresight

Startups live in uncertainty. Without validation, you’re just guessing — and guessing is expensive. Lean validation uses data to navigate the chaos and make informed decisions.

How Lean Validation Minimizes Risk

Instead of placing a big bet on untested ideas, you run small, fast experiments. This approach helps you iterate quickly, pivot when needed, and increase your chances of success.

The Lean Validation Loop

The process follows a clear cycle:

1. Formulate Assumptions
   Define what you believe about your customer, problem, and solution.

2. Design Experiment
   Create a simple, fast way to test your assumption. Think mockups, landing pages, or interviews.

3. Run Experiment
   Put your experiment in the real world. Observe how people respond.

4. Learn
   Gather insights. Did reality match your expectations?

5. Decide
   Based on what you learned, either:

   • Refine and start a new cycle, or

   • Invalidate and kill the idea, or

   • Pivot and change the idea.

This loop minimizes wasted effort and keeps you moving forward with real evidence.

From Assumptions to Action: The Role of Interviews

Once you know what assumptions to test, the best way to explore them is by talking to real people. This is where customer interviews come into play.

Unlike surveys or analytics, interviews give you deep, qualitative insight. You hear stories, frustrations, workarounds — things data alone can’t tell you.

To bridge Lean Validation with actionable insights, you must:

• Turn assumptions into questions

• Talk to innovators (people with real pain points)

• Focus on problems, not solutions (yet)

Who Are Innovators and Why Do They Matter?

Innovators are your first believers. They’re people already feeling the problem — and actively trying to solve it.

Traits of an Innovator:

• Problem Awareness – They recognize a specific pain point.

• Active Seekers – They’ve looked for solutions.

• DIY Fixers – They may have created their own workaround.

• Financial Capacity – They’re willing to pay for the right fix.

Find these people, and you find your early traction.

Debunking the MVP Myth

Too many think an MVP is a stripped-down version of a product. It’s not.

An MVP is the most efficient way to test a specific assumption. Sometimes, it’s a prototype. Sometimes, it’s a conversation. It’s never about features — it’s about learning.

How to Formulate Your Assumptions

Here are key questions to define what you believe:

If you have no product yet:

• Who do I believe is the customer?

• What is their biggest pain?

• Where and when does it happen?

• How do they solve it today?

If you already have a product:

• What is the value we deliver?

• What alternatives exist?

• Why would they switch to us?

These become the basis for your experiments and interview questions.

Designing a Lean Experiment

1. Set a Clear Goal

Know what you’re trying to learn. Example: Are designers struggling with collaboration tools?

2. Define Success Criteria

Be specific. For example: At least 6 out of 10 interviewees mention difficulty sharing files.

3. Choose the Right Format

You can run:

• Interviews

• Surveys

• A/B tests

• Landing pages

Running Customer Interviews Like a Pro

The 4-Part Structure

1. Intro (2 mins) – Set the tone. Be friendly and clear about your goals.

2. Segmentation (2–5 mins) – Confirm they match your target audience.

3. Core Interview (10–20 mins) – Dig deep into their experience.

4. Wrap-Up (2–5 mins) – Ask for referrals. Thank them.

Rules for Great Interviews

• Don’t talk about your idea.

• Ask about their past behavior.

• Let them talk. Your job is to listen.

"Love the problem, not your solution." — Ash Maurya

What to Ask: Interview Question Types

Problem Discovery Questions

• What’s the hardest part of your workday?

• Tell me about the last time that happened.

• What do you wish existed to fix this?

Problem Validation Questions

• Why haven’t you solved this yet?

• How does this affect your work/life?

• How motivated are you to fix it?

Product Discovery Questions

• What have you tried already?

• What did you like or hate about it?

• What would your ideal solution look like?

Product Validation Questions

• Would you use/pay for this?

• What’s missing?

• What might stop you from using it?

From Insight to Action

Once interviews are complete:

• Group feedback into themes

• Look for repeated pain points

• Decide whether to pivot, proceed, or kill

If fewer than 50% confirm the problem, go back and revise your assumptions.
If more than 50% resonate — you’re onto something. Time to build a value proposition.

Build Your Value Proposition and Validate Across the DMU

After you’ve identified opportunities in the market, it’s time to formulate a value proposition. A value proposition is a concise statement that communicates the unique benefits and value your product or service offers to your customers. It is a promise you make to your target audience, highlighting why they should choose your offering over others in the market.

There are 11 core types of value propositions — explore them in this article — and choosing the right one is crucial to stand out and connect with the right users.

Whether you're in B2B or B2C, decision-making is rarely done by one person alone. In many cases, you’ll deal with a DMU (Decision-Making Unit) — a group of people who influence or make the purchase decision. This includes several people such as initiators, users, influencers, and economic buyers. Each has different motivations and pain points — and each one deserves validation.

To succeed, you must validate your proposition with all levels of the DMU. That means tailoring your interviews and value messaging not just for one persona, but across the pyramid. A strong solution might appeal to users but still fail if economic buyers don’t see ROI.

Validate every layer — and your chances of success multiply.

Pretotyping: Scale Validation Before You Build

Once you’ve conducted customer interviews and perhaps even collected signed letters of intent, it’s time to scale your validation efforts. This is where pretotyping comes in.

What is Pretotyping?

Coined by Alberto Savoia at Google, pretotyping means: "Fake it and test it before you make it." It’s about testing an idea quickly and cheaply to confirm whether people will actually use or buy what you plan to build — before you build it.

Pretotyping is different from prototyping. Prototypes test if something can be built. Pretotypes test if it should be built.

Examples of Pretotyping Techniques:

• Fake Door: Offer a product that doesn’t exist yet (like McDonald’s testing McSpaghetti by putting it on the menu and measuring orders).

• Facade: Set up a storefront or website to gauge interest (e.g., CarsDirect tested demand without owning a single car).

• Pinocchio: Create a non-working physical mockup (like Jeff Hawkins’ wooden Palm Pilot).

• Mechanical Turk: Replace the tech backend with human input to simulate automation (IBM used human typists to mimic speech-to-text software).

• Video: Show the idea’s potential through storytelling (Google Glass first launched via a vision video).

• Provincial: Test the idea in one small market or store (BestBuy piloting NextPlay in a parking lot tent).

• One-Night Stand: Try the idea for one night in an existing environment (Airbnb’s founders renting their apartment).

• Infiltrator: Sneak the product into an existing store to observe real customer behavior (IKEA product test by Upwell Labs).

• Impostor: Use a similar existing product and gauge interest with mock upgrades (Elon Musk testing Tesla Roadster using a modified Lotus).

Pretotyping reduces the risk of building the wrong product. It’s fast, cheap, and effective — and a powerful next step after interviews.

When Have You Reached Problem/Solution Fit?

Problem/Solution Fit is one of the most critical milestones in early-stage startup development. It’s the point where you've validated that your product idea resonates with a clearly defined group of users — specifically, those feeling the pain you're trying to solve.

But how do you know you've reached this fit? While there’s no universal formula, seasoned founders and investors often rely on two practical indicators:

• Engagement with at least 1% of your Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM)

• A 50% conversion rate from that group — whether into a waiting list, early signups, pre-orders, or letters of intent

This doesn’t mean you've built the final product. It means you’ve confirmed that there’s genuine pull from the market — a signal that you’re solving a real problem for real people.

The Dropbox Example: How a Simple Video Validated a Big Idea

A classic case of early problem/solution fit is Dropbox.

Instead of building a fully functioning product first — which would have taken months — the Dropbox team created a simple 2-minute explainer video. This video walked viewers through the idea: a seamless way to store and sync files across devices. It wasn’t fancy. There was no working backend. Just a screen recording and a compelling narrative targeted at a tech-savvy audience.

They launched the video on Hacker News and Digg, platforms filled with potential innovators who were already dealing with file-syncing frustrations. The response? Immediate and overwhelming. Their beta waitlist exploded from 5,000 to over 75,000 signups practically overnight.

This video served as a pretotyping experiment — a "Fake Door" test. Even without a product, Dropbox was able to prove that:

• There was demand

• People understood and wanted the solution

• Their target audience was willing to act now, not just say “cool idea”

This is a textbook demonstration of reaching problem/solution fit:
✔ They targeted the right innovators
✔ They tested a simple version of the idea
✔ They got a clear, measurable signal of demand

Don’t Forget Global Validation

If you're building a product for an international market, it’s not enough to validate problem/solution fit in just one region. Cultural differences, user behaviors, and pain points can vary significantly between countries.

Be sure to test your assumptions and value proposition across multiple geographies. Innovators in Germany may not behave the same way as those in the U.S., Brazil, or Indonesia. Early validation in each launch market helps you reduce risk and localize effectively from day one.

Conclusion

Discovery isn’t optional — it’s survival. If you're not talking to customers, you're guessing. And in the startup world, guessing is the fastest route to failure. Lean Validation gives you a structured way to turn uncertainty into insight, helping you make decisions based on facts, not assumptions.

Paired with deep, honest customer interviews, this approach gives you clarity, direction, and momentum. You don’t need a perfect product — you need real understanding. Stop guessing. Start learning. That’s how great startups are born.

FAQ

1. How long should the Discovery Phase last?
Usually 5-25 weeks depending on your pace, interview count and complexity of the DMU/product. After the Discovery Phase, focus on achieving Product/Pioneer Fit.

2. What’s a good number of interviews to start with?
15–20 solid interviews is a strong starting point.

3. Should I build anything before Discovery?
Nope. Discovery comes first. Ideas are cheap — validation is gold.

4. How do I find innovators to interview?
Look in online communities, forums, LinkedIn, Reddit, or even your professional network.

5. Can I skip this phase if I know the industry?
Knowing the industry isn’t enough — customer needs evolve. Always validate.