Use This PROVEN Formula to Validate Your Next Startup Idea

Summary

In this insightful video, Rob Walling shares his 22200 framework for validating startup ideas, emphasizing the importance of not jumping straight into building. He discusses the necessity of initial market research, having meaningful conversations with potential customers, and the value of landing pages for gauging interest. Walling, an experienced entrepreneur and investor, debunks myths about validation, stressing that while certainty is elusive, a 50-70% confidence level can be a good indicator to proceed. He also recommends two books for further exploration: 'Start Small, Stay Small' and 'Deploy Empathy'.

Takeaways

• 😀 Start-up validation is essential to avoid wasting time on ideas that may not resonate with customers.
• 🔍 You can never achieve 100% validation certainty; aim for a gut feel of 50-70% certainty to move forward.
• 🗣️ Engaging with future customers early is crucial as it's difficult to get them to talk once you have a product if they won't now.
• 🏠 Builders may prefer to code for months in isolation, but talking to customers is a necessary step in the validation process.
• ⏱️ There are times when building an MVP quickly (20-40 hours) can serve as validation if it's too complex or time-consuming to do otherwise.
• 🤔 The 22200 framework suggests spending 2 hours on initial validation, 20 hours on conversations or landing pages, and 200 hours on building an MVP.
• 🔑 The 5PM framework can be used for the initial 2-hour validation, covering problem, purchaser, pricing, market, product, and founder fit.
• 🔍 SEO keyword research is part of the 2-hour validation to gauge public conversations and potential search traffic for the product idea.
• 💬 The 20-hour validation involves having warm or cold conversations with potential customers to gauge interest and refine the customer profile.
• 📝 Landing pages can be used in the 20-hour validation phase to capture emails and communicate the value proposition to potential customers.
• 🛠️ The 200-hour validation step is about building an MVP to start the iteration cycle with real customer feedback, not just theorizing.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the 22200 framework mentioned in the script?

The 22200 framework is designed to help aspiring founders validate their startup ideas efficiently. It consists of three steps: a 2-hour validation process using the 5pm framework and SEO research, a 20-hour step involving conversations or building landing pages, and a 200-hour step for building an MVP to start the iteration cycle.

Why is it important to not jump directly to the 200-hour step of the framework?

Jumping directly to the 200-hour step can be a waste of time if the two and twenty-hour steps are not completed first. These earlier steps help in validating the idea and understanding the market, which is crucial before investing significant time and resources into building an MVP.

What does the acronym '5pm' stand for in the context of the 22200 framework?

In the script, '5pm' stands for a prevalidation framework that involves looking at the problem, purchaser, pricing model, market, product, founder fit, and pain. It's a quick way to assess an idea's viability in under 2 hours.

What is the significance of SEO keyword research in the 2-hour validation step?

SEO keyword research helps to identify if there are public conversations about the proposed product's pain points, where potential customers hang out online, and what kind of search traffic is available. This information is vital for understanding the market landscape and potential customer reach.

How does the script suggest engaging with potential customers during the 20-hour validation step?

The script suggests having warm or cold conversations, or using a landing page approach. Warm conversations involve reaching out to known contacts, while cold conversations involve finding and engaging with people discussing the problem online, such as in forums or social media groups.

What is the 'Curse of the Audience' mentioned in the script, and why is it a concern?

The 'Curse of the Audience' refers to a situation where people, especially those who want to be friendly or supportive, may express interest in a product they don't actually need. This can lead to false validation signals, making it harder to gauge true market interest.

Why is it suggested to offer to pay for conversations with experts during the validation process?

Offering to pay for conversations with experts can make it a no-brainer for them to engage, ensuring honest and valuable feedback. While many might agree to talk for free, offering payment shows respect for their time and expertise.

What is the role of a landing page in the 20-hour validation step?

A landing page serves to communicate the value proposition of the product idea and capture emails of interested individuals. It helps in understanding the level of interest and in initiating further conversations with potential customers about their needs and preferences.

What are some strategies mentioned in the script for driving traffic to a landing page during validation?

The script mentions using SEO, Google Ads, cold outreach, and LinkedIn outreach as potential strategies for driving traffic to a landing page. These are the same strategies that would be used when the product is fully launched.

Can you provide the names of the two books recommended in the script for further understanding of startup validation?

The two books recommended are 'Start Small, Stay Small' by Rob Walling and 'Deploy Empathy' by Michelle Hansen. These books offer insights into building landing pages, capturing emails, doing SEO keyword research, and effectively communicating with customers.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Startup Idea Validation: The 22200 Framework

In this paragraph, Rob Walling introduces the concept of startup validation and his personal 22200 framework for validating a startup idea. He emphasizes the importance of not spending excessive time coding without first ensuring there's a market need. The speaker shares his experience of building startups in isolation and the common pitfall of launching to no interest ('crickets'). He outlines the 22200 framework, which consists of 2 hours of preliminary validation, 20 hours of conversation or landing page creation, and 200 hours of actual MVP development. The goal is to achieve a certain level of certainty (50-70%) that the idea is worth pursuing, without aiming for impossible 100% validation. This step-by-step approach helps in understanding the market and customer interest before fully committing resources to development.

05:02

🔎 Deep Dive into the 22200 Framework: Steps and Strategies

This paragraph delves deeper into the specifics of the 22200 framework. The first step involves a quick 2-hour validation using the 5pm framework and SEO keyword research to gauge public conversations and potential search traffic. The second step, 20 hours, focuses on having conversations with potential customers, either through warm networks or cold outreach, and possibly using landing pages to capture interest and feedback. The final step, 200 hours, is about building an MVP to initiate the product iteration cycle with real customers. The speaker also discusses alternative validation methods, such as direct outreach via LinkedIn or email, and the importance of not skipping steps to avoid wasting time on an unproven idea.

10:03

📚 Recommended Reading for Startup Validation and Customer Conversations

In the concluding paragraph, Rob Walling suggests further reading for those interested in startup validation and customer engagement. He recommends his own book 'Start Small, Stay Small' for insights on building landing pages and conducting SEO research, and 'Deploy Empathy' by Michelle Hansen for guidance on talking to customers effectively. Walling also invites viewers to join the MicroConf Connect community, a supportive network for bootstrap SaaS founders. Additionally, he references another video where he discusses the essentials of building an MVP and encourages viewers to subscribe for more content on this topic.

Keywords

💡Startup Validation

Startup validation refers to the process of confirming the viability of a startup idea before investing significant time and resources into its development. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of not reaching 100% certainty but rather aiming for a level of confidence that the idea has potential. The script mentions that validation helps to gauge customer interest and the difficulty of engaging with potential customers, which is crucial before building a product.

💡MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

An MVP is a version of a new product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development. In the context of the video, the speaker discusses the 200-hour step of the 22200 framework, which involves building an MVP to initiate the iteration cycle with customers. The script also mentions different options for creating an MVP, such as no-code solutions, human automation, or coding.

💡22200 Framework

The 22200 Framework is a method proposed by the speaker for validating a startup idea. It consists of 2 hours of initial validation, 20 hours of further validation through conversations or landing pages, and 200 hours spent on building an MVP. The framework is designed to minimize wasted effort on ideas that may not resonate with customers. The script outlines each step's purpose and provides examples of how they can be implemented.

💡Customer Outreach

Customer outreach is the act of initiating contact with potential customers to gather insights, feedback, or interest in a product. The video script discusses the importance of direct outreach, both warm and cold, as part of the validation process. Examples from the script include reaching out via LinkedIn, offering to pay for expert consultations, and using various online platforms to engage with potential customers.

💡SEO Keyword Research

SEO keyword research involves identifying the words and phrases that potential customers use when searching for products or solutions online. In the video, the speaker suggests using SEO research during the 2-hour validation step to understand where public conversations are happening and to gauge the search traffic for the product idea. This helps in identifying the potential market and customer interest.

💡Landing Page

A landing page is a single web page designed to capture leads or drive sales. In the script, the speaker mentions using a landing page as part of the 20-hour validation step. It serves to communicate the value proposition of the product and capture emails from interested visitors. The landing page helps in assessing the level of interest and gathering preliminary feedback from potential customers.

💡Audience

In the context of the video, an audience refers to the group of people who follow or are likely to be interested in the speaker's content. The script warns about the 'Curse of the Audience,' where people may express interest out of a desire to be supportive rather than genuine need. Understanding one's audience is crucial for validating a startup idea and for marketing purposes.

💡Bootstrapping

Bootstrapping is the process of starting and growing a business with limited external funding, relying instead on personal savings or revenue from the business itself. The speaker identifies himself as having bootstrapped five companies, indicating a self-funded approach to business. The script also mentions a community for bootstrap SaaS founders, emphasizing the importance of this approach in the startup world.

💡SaaS (Software as a Service)

SaaS refers to a software delivery model in which software is provided over the internet, on a subscription basis. The video script discusses building SaaS apps and the importance of understanding the problem they solve and for whom. The speaker's experience and the books he recommends are particularly relevant to founders looking to build and validate SaaS startups.

💡Empathy in Customer Interaction

Empathy in customer interaction involves understanding and sharing the feelings of the customer, which is vital for effective communication and product development. The script recommends the book 'Deploy Empathy' by Michelle Hansen, which discusses the importance of empathetic conversations with customers during the validation and development process of a startup.

Highlights

The importance of not spending excessive time coding in isolation without customer validation, as it can lead to building something that no one wants.

Introduction of the 22200 framework for validating startup ideas to avoid wasting time on undesired products.

Myth busting about startup validation, emphasizing that 100% certainty is unattainable but aiming for 50-70% certainty is reasonable.

The challenge of getting future customers to talk about the problem you're solving before having a product to sell.

The reality that 'if you build it, they will come' is not a valid approach; proactive marketing and understanding customer needs are essential.

The difference between when validation is necessary and when a simple build within 20-40 hours might suffice as validation.

The significance of the 5pm framework for prevalidation, covering problem, purchaser, pricing model, market, product, founder fit, and pain.

The role of SEO keyword research in the initial 2-hour validation phase to gauge public conversations and potential traffic.

How to use warm and cold conversations during the 20-hour validation phase to understand the intensity of the problem and customer interest.

The strategy of using landing pages to capture emails and communicate the value proposition to potential customers.

The importance of not jumping directly to the 200-hour MVP building phase without first conducting the 2-hour and 20-hour validations.

The 'Curse of the Audience' phenomenon, where people may express interest that doesn't translate into actual product usage.

The method of offering to pay for expert consultations to gain insights into customer problems and potential solutions.

The effectiveness of cold calls and reaching out to online communities to validate the demand for a product.

The three Factor framework for driving traffic to a landing page, which includes SEO, ads, and outreach strategies.

The recommendation of two books, 'Start Small, Stay Small' and 'Deploy Empathy', for deeper understanding of startup validation and customer conversations.

The introduction of MicroConf Connect as a valuable online community for bootstrap SaaS founders.

A reminder to check out a follow-up video for a deep dive into what should be included in an MVP and what can be omitted.

Transcripts

when I first started building startups I

would spend months often times literally

6 months of nights and weekends writing

code in the veritable basement it was

actually a desk in my living room but

you get the idea I wasn't talking to

customers I wasn't talking to prospects

cuz that really wasn't a common thing

back then so then I would launch almost

always to crickets it's a lot harder

than you would think to build something

that anyone cares about so if you're an

aspiring founder with a handful of ideas

but no idea what to do next this video

is going to walk you through my two

20200 framework of how to validate your

next startup idea so you don't waste

months of your time building the wrong

thing and if you stick around till the

end I'll tell you exactly which books I

would read to learn more about the

topics I cover in this video I'm Rob

Walling I've started six companies five

of them bootstrapped I've written four

books on entrepreneurship and I've

invested in more than 170 startups so

before I dig in to the 220 200 framework

I'd like to talk a bit about startup

validation because there's a lot of

myths and miscon inceptions around it

first thing I want to say is that you're

never going to get to 100% validation

you will never be certain that an idea

will work no matter how much validation

you do there's always going to be a

shadow of a doubt and usually a lot more

than that I like to say if you can get

to 50 60 or even 70% certainty and even

that's kind of a squishy thing like how

do you define that but it's there's a

mental gut feel of yeah I'm more certain

than I was yesterday I'm more certain

than I was last week and at a certain

point it just levels out and you get

this feeling like I'm not learning

anything anymore and I need to take that

next step and move into probably

building something for people to look at

a big question we're trying to address

with validation is how are you going to

get in front of your future customers

because if you can't get people to talk

to you today about the problem you're

trying to solve how are you going to get

them to talk to you once you have

something to sell I often find that

Builders makers like myself the easy

part is building and we just want to go

into a basement and code for 6 months

because that's what we know how to do

but but going out and talking to

customers is a scary thing if you build

it they will come is not going to happen

you have to lead people to your product

you have to do the marketing and build

something people want and that's what

validation is trying to do is get a

sense of how hard is it to find people

to talk to before you have a product

because if you can't get them to talk to

you now how are you going to find them

after you've invested months and months

of building something that you don't

even know if they want I also want to

talk about times where you may not need

to validate anything there are times

where it's a really simple build and if

you can get an MVP live in 20 or 40

hours of time that you know often times

you might spend that much validating so

if you could actually get something into

the market in that amount of time I

might consider that the validation it's

when something's going to take hundreds

of hours to build that you want to

shortcut that and get a better idea that

you're headed in the right direction now

I also find that some software

developers use this as an excuse to just

go build and not talk to people cuz that

of course is the scary part so be

realistic about how long you think it

might take you to get an MVP to Market

so how do you know if an idea is

validated well you don't this isn't a

blueprint it's just a framework that

gives you ideas and thoughts about how

to be a little more confident in what

you're building and there are different

ways to validate we're going to dive

into today you can put up a landing page

and send people to it and measure stuff

and talk to customers or you can do

direct Outreach and talk to folks I did

it via email Jason Cohen the founder of

WP engine I believe reached out on

LinkedIn and email and then actually did

Zoom calls with folks and so if you

think about having a bunch of

conversations at the point where I had

11 people telling me yeah I would be

willing to use drip if you built what

you're talking about at least give it a

try over the next 3 months I got 11

yeses Jason Cohen got 40 yeses before he

launched WP engine which is now a

unicorn it is literally a billion doll

company the right answer is probably

somewhere in that range 11 to 40 I mean

I think if you have three yeses probably

not enough I think if you have a 100

yeses you've put in a lot of work but

have you learned anything past that 40th

yes so with that let me talk about the

22200 idea validation framework the

reason it's called that is it's the

amount of hours that it takes at each of

the three steps of validation so the

first step is a 2hour validation process

this is using the 5pm framework which

I'm going to talk about in a second I've

also talked about this in a prior video

and doing things like SEO research then

the second step is the 20 the 20 hours

of conversations or building landing

pages this involves having warm or cold

conversations or or doing the landing

page approach that I talked about

earlier or maybe a combination of the

two like I did with drip and then the

third the 200 is approximately again

these are all approximations it's a

framework but 200 hours spent actually

building something building that mvp

doesn't necessarily need to be code but

it's getting something into the hands of

your customers to start the iteration

cycle so you have an idea what the

22200 framework is let's start with the

two two hours of validation I talked

about the 5:00 p.m idea prevalidation

framework just a couple minutes ago it

involves looking at the problem the

purchaser the pricing model the market

product founder fit and pain to validate

I can literally spend 30 or 40 minutes

just talking through those steps if you

want to hear an in-depth overview of the

5pm ID validation framework head to

episode 628 of startups for the rest of

us and that episode also tells you how

to download a PDF explanation that dives

further into this validation but the

idea is that you can do this in less

than 2 hours the other part of this

first step is SEO keyword research so

thinking where are there public

conversations that you can learn from

Twitter Reddit Facebook groups is there

paid traffic you can drive Google

Facebook YouTube you're not trying to

actually drive it yet you are going to

keyword tools or you are searching in

these groups to figure out are people

talking about this paino where do they

hang out and what kind of search traffic

if any is available for the product that

you're trying to build if people are not

searching for it realize that you are

going to have to go seek them out so

there's going to be a lot of cold

Outreach and a lot of making yourself

visible in their spaces and so you can

do that today in The Next Step the 20

hour step where you go into those spaces

and you see if anyone cares about this

problem or you run Google ads or you try

to rank for organic Search terms but in

this step you're just researching it to

try to get a broad idea of the landscape

that you're trying to enter into

with this idea that you want to build

the nice part about the 2hour validation

is let's say you have five different

ideas you can do 2-hour validation on

all of them and pick the one or two that

resonates with you most to potentially

take to The Next Step which is of course

the 20-hour validation step this is

where you talk to people you start by

having warm conversations you go to your

audience whether it's Twitter whether

it's Facebook groups whether it's going

to your email Rolodex so to speak do

people even use that term anymore do you

if you're under do you even know what a

Rolodex is but you get the idea you go

to the people that you know who might

have this problem or might have this

need that you're thinking about solving

cuz remember when an entrepreneur comes

to me these days and says I have an idea

for a startup for a SAS app I say don't

tell me your idea tell me what problem

it solves and for whom and you may not

be 100% certain who the ideal customer

profile is but you can take a guess and

this step allows you to have a lot of

conversations and try to narrow that

down and figure out who has the burning

problem who are going to be my first

Early Access customers and who are more

lukewarm about it so with warm

conversations you can work your network

or you can work your audience and what I

was just talking about was working your

network it's the people you know now if

you have an audience let's say you have

a podcast or you have a YouTube channel

you got to be a little careful because

there's something called The Curse of

the audience which is where people want

to be your friend or they want to

encourage you and so they will tell you

they have a desire to use something when

in fact they may not and so you have to

be pretty careful in this early stage a

audiences are not the best for building

SAS apps they're great for building info

products and selling content courses and

information you have to tread a little

carefully if you have an audience when

Jason Cohen who I mentioned prior

founder of WP engine did this he reached

out to Wordpress Consultants on LinkedIn

and he since he was building WP engine

which targeted WordPress folks he made a

bunch of connections and contacted

people and just had conversations the

other way to do this cold is to find

places where people talk about the

problem online right I mentioned earlier

Reddit Facebook groups potentially

Hacker News although I'm a little

dubious about that Twitter can you even

offer to pay for conversations with

experts if you're going to be selling to

Wordpress folks and their Consultants I

know Jason Cohen offered to pay their

hourly rate to speak with him for an

hour so you kind of make it a no-brainer

most people actually won't take you up

on that they'll do it for free but it's

always an opportunity that you can take

advantage of another example I have of a

Founder who did a ton of cold calls it

was 50 or 60 cold calls to find their

startup idea is the co-founder of senior

place and I interviewed him in startups

for the rest of us episode 589 you can

listen to that interview about a

software engineer who made a kajillion

cold calls and they found the idea for

their now successful startup that has

been funded by Tiny Seed it's pretty

incredible story and if you want to find

out more about how to do that listen to

episode

589 now the other way to do 20h hour

validation is to do it with a landing

page and I say this other way like you

can have the cold and warm conversations

as as one leg of the stool and you can

use a landing page or you can do one or

the other I've seen both work I

personally tend to use both since I'm a

marketer I like to have a landing page

up and if you think you're going to have

a lower touch funnel for this product

it's a good early test to build a

landing page on the page you want to

communicate the value you're going to

provide or the problem that you're going

to solve you're trying to communicate a

value proposition and then you need to

think about if I already had a

full-blown product and I was selling it

what strategies would I use to drive

traffic to that landing page I get this

question what strategies you use well

it's the same strategies you'll use when

you launch so if you can't answer that

now you need to think about it right so

you buy a book like the SAS Playbook I

outlined the 20 B2B SAS marketing

strategies and you go through I call it

the three Factor framework but you can

also buy the book traction by Gabriel

Weinberg and you look at how you would

potentially Drive traffic whether it's

SEO or ads or cold Outreach or LinkedIn

Outreach you know there are a lot of

different strategies to do this

obviously outside the scope of this

video but I have covered that in my

books and in other episodes on this show

and on the landing page I'm going to

have an attention grabbing headline

maybe a subtitle that communicates the

value and email capture and what I'm

trying to do is communicate this is the

problem that I see this is what I'm

going to do to solve it although I don't

go into Super depth and then I have an

email capture widget and the purpose is

not to build this massive launch list

although that's great it's even if you

only collect 20 or 30 emails you then

reach out to those people and you say do

you have this problem how much would you

be willing to pay to solve it and how

would you prefer that I solve it cuz

sometimes you know you have a problem

and and an idea of a solution but often

times your potential customers can give

you better ideas of how to solve the

problem and lastly we have the 200 hour

step of the 220 200 framework I actually

just released a video that talked all

about how to build an MVP and the

different options you have whether it's

no code whether it's human automation or

whether you're writing code and you can

check that out hopefully there's a link

in the upper left of this video and

certainly we'll link it up in the show

notes for this one but what I want you

to take away is don't jump to the 200

hour validation because that can be a

huge waste of time if you don't do the

two and the 20 beforehand in a second

I'm going to give you two books that I

would read as next steps if you want to

dive deeper into this topic before I do

that I want to let you know about the

best online community for bootstrap SAS

Founders it's called microf connect it's

an amazing community of supportive

Founders we have more than 7,000

Founders and aspiring Founders in the

community Community microcom connect.com

if you want to check it out we have a

free tier so you can come in and look

around and we have a ton of folks

participating it's heavily moderated and

as I said I believe it is the best

community for bootstrap SAS Founders in

the world so now if I was going to dive

deeper into 22200 and frankly trying to

validate startup ideas I would read two

books the first is my first book called

start small stay small it was published

in 2010 so parts of it are a little

dated but I talk a lot about building

landing pages capturing emails doing SEO

keyword research and it can be a great

mindset shift for developers who usually

think build first but start small st

small talks about market and marketing

first and the second book I would be

looking to read is called deploy empathy

by Michelle Hansen and this talks all

about how to talk to customers and

potential customers now it covers the

gamut whether you have a full-blown

product and you're talking to people in

support or whether you are pre

validating or trying to validate an idea

this book can be an invaluable resource

to you as you're trying to figure out

exactly what questions should I be

asking when you tell me to talk to

customers if you've watched this video

and you feel like you're ready to take

the next step into creating an MVP make

sure you check out this next video that

I mentioned earlier where I deep dive

into what I think you ought to include

in an MVP and also what I think you can

get away without make sure you like And

subscribe to get more content like this

every week thanks so much for watching