THE MISSION VALIDATION WORKSHEET
Fill this in BEFORE you build anything. If the demand isn't real, you find
out here for the cost of an afternoon instead of a wasted month.

Every number on this page is Joe's, off his own sends to his own list.
They are the lines he stops at. Run the ladder twice and you will have
better ones. Write yours over his.


THE IDEA IN ONE LINE
Write the product you think you want to build, in one sentence, plain.

  I want to build ___________________________________________________

  for _______________________________________________________________

  so they can _______________________________________________________


THE MISSION CHECK
Seven moves. Answer each one honestly. A weak answer here is the cheapest
warning you will ever get.

M - MAP WHAT PEOPLE ARE STUCK ON
    Not what you think they need. Their sentence, quoted, in their
    punctuation. Go find it in comments, three-star reviews, and your
    own replies.

    Their exact words: ________________________________________________

    ___________________________________________________________________

    Found the same thing from five independent strangers?     Y / N
    If N, stop here. One person stuck is an anecdote.

I - IDENTIFY WHO IS STUCK AND CAN PAY
    Two separate facts. Your loudest readers and your paying readers are
    rarely the same people, so check the second one on purpose.

    Already paid for something in this area?                  Y / N

    Paying for something monthly around it right now?         Y / N

    Bought anything at all last month?                        Y / N

    Beginners buy hope. Practitioners buy time. Which: _______________

S - SIZE THE DEMAND
    Climb the ladder below. Stop at the first no. Most of the value in
    this whole worksheet is in stopping early.

S - SHRINK THE BUILD
    Length matches the promise, not a page target. Before you build a
    template or a checklist, count the separate places somebody could
    get this wrong.

    Places it can go wrong: ______   (none means it is a paragraph, and
    a paragraph is a post, not a product)

    Container:  checklist / template / workbook / guide / reference

I - ISSUE THE TEST
    Smallest version that shows the value. Hand it to five people who
    fit. Watch them use it and explain nothing, because you will not be
    standing there when a stranger opens it.

    Where they hesitated: _____________________________________________

O - OFFER IT FOR MONEY
    A completed transaction is the one instrument nobody can fake.

    My price: $______   What result would count as a yes: ____________

N - NOTE WHAT HAPPENED
    Thirty days after launch, four lines, written the same day before
    the story smooths over in your memory.

    What I expected (the threshold I wrote down first): _______________

    What happened: ____________________________________________________

    Where I was wrong: ________________________________________________

    What I do next: ___________________________________________________


THE LADDER
Five rungs. Each costs more than the last. Write the GO number down
BEFORE you run the test. A number you pick after seeing the data is a
rationalization with a decimal point.

  RUNG            COST         GO                   KILL AT        RESULT

  Public ask      10 min       3+ replies           likes only     ______

  Reply test      1 email      10+ substantive      under 10       ______

  Interest page   1 hour       10 people and 10%    under 10 / 5%  ______

  Pre-order       1 afternoon  5+ paid              under 3        ______

  Paid pilot      real work    used + mentioned     never opened   ______

Note on the interest page: the headcount is the gate and the rate is the
qualifier. Ten percent of thirty visitors is three people. At your size a
percentage on its own is a lie, which is why every gate above is a count
of human beings.

On the pre-order: fewer than three, refund everyone that day and say
plainly it isn't happening. You just bought free reputation.


THE DECISION
Circle one and write the reason, so future-you remembers why.

  BUILD IT   /   NARROW IT   /   REFRAME IT   /   KILL IT

  Because: __________________________________________________________

  ___________________________________________________________________

  Date: ____________


THE LINE TO REMEMBER
Most of what you validate comes back no, and that is the system working.
A no in week one costs you a week. The same no in week four costs you a
month plus the part where you feel stupid in public.