Workbook
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Module 0 · Before step 1
Start here: why most products fail before launch
Name your riskiest risk
Your idea in one sentence
Which risk is biggest right now?
Why that one?
The one thing you most need to learn before spending money
Checkpoint
- I can say which of the four risks my idea carries most, and why.
- I have written down what I need to learn first, not what I want to build first.
- I accept that the customer list of features is not a plan.
Module 1 · Steps 1 to 4
Who exactly: segmentation and the beachhead market
Segmentation matrix and beachhead
Segmentation matrix
| Segment name | End user (a specific human) | What they do today | Why they would buy | Do they talk to each other? |
|---|
Beachhead: which one, and why
Condition 1: they buy the same product
Condition 2: they buy it the same way
Condition 3: they influence each other
Beachhead TAM, top-down
Checkpoint
- My beachhead names a specific human, not a company or an industry.
- All three market conditions are a yes, or I know which one I still have to check in interviews.
- I could write a message tomorrow to five people who fit the beachhead exactly.
Module 2 · Steps 3 and 5
Talk to them: story-based interviews
Interview plan and snapshots
Three research questions
| What I want to learn |
|---|
Five interview questions, all starting from a story
| Tell me about the last time you... |
|---|
Eight people who fit the beachhead
| Name or role | Where I found them | Status |
|---|
Interview snapshots
| Who | Direct quote | Observation | My interpretation |
|---|
After five or more interviews: the pattern
Checkpoint
- Every interview question of mine starts from a specific past event.
- I have at least five snapshots with quotes, observations and interpretations kept apart.
- I can name the workaround my beachhead already uses, and what it costs them.
Module 3 · Step 6
How they buy: the full life cycle use case
As-is customer journey
Life cycle, as it is today
| Actor | How they realise the problem | How they find and choose options | How they acquire, use and get value | How they pay | Why they buy more or tell others |
|---|
Where they spend money or time today
The step your product changes
Checkpoint
- My map names who realises, who chooses, who pays and who uses, and whether they are the same person.
- I can point to the step where money or time is lost today.
- Fewer than half the cells carry an asterisk.
Module 4 · Steps 7 and 8
What it does for them: product spec and quantified value
Product spec and QVP
High-level product specification
| Customer problem, need or job | Benefit your product creates | Feature that delivers it |
|---|
Landing page headline
The one value metric they measure
As-is state, today
To-be state, with your product
Against substitutes
Checkpoint
- Every feature in my spec sits in a row that starts with a customer problem.
- My value proposition is a number, with an as-is and a to-be.
- I have compared it with at least one substitute the customer uses today.
Module 5 · Step 20
What has to be true: identify and map your assumptions
Nine assumptions, mapped
Assumptions
| Type (desirability, feasibility, viability) | We believe that... | Importance (high or low) | Evidence (none, some, strong) |
|---|
The riskiest assumption
Checkpoint
- I have at least two assumptions of each type.
- At least one assumption is high importance with no evidence, and I have named it.
- Nothing on my map got strong evidence because the team agreed with it.
Module 6 · Step 21
Find out: test your riskiest assumption
Test card and learning card
Check 1: is the fix cheap and reversible?
Check 2: one obvious mechanism?
Check 3: would you run the test anyway?
Route
We believe that
To verify, we will
And measure
We are right if
By
Learning card: result
Learning card: insight
Learning card: decision
Checkpoint
- My we are right if has a number in it.
- My test can fail, and I know what I would do if it did.
- I could run this test within four weeks with what I have today.
Module 7 · Step 22
Ship it: the minimum viable business product
Define your MVBP
The MVBP in one sentence
Customers pay for it: how and how much?
It provides value: which benefit from the spec, felt where?
It creates a feedback loop: what do you learn from each use?
User flow, ten steps or fewer
| Step | What the user does | What they get |
|---|
What you are cutting, and why it hurts
Build plan: tools, who, by when
Checkpoint
- All three conditions are answered with specifics, not intentions.
- My user flow has ten steps or fewer and ends in a moment of value.
- I have cut at least one feature I love.
Module 8 · After step 22
Know when you are there: measuring product-market fit
Survey and cycle plan
Survey trigger: when has a user experienced the value?
Segments to read separately
Next 90-day cycle: the assumption
Next 90-day cycle: the test
Next 90-day cycle: the number that says it worked
Checkpoint
- I know when I will send the survey and to whom.
- I have a 90-day cycle with one assumption, one test and one number.
- I can say what I will not build this quarter.