What would you put on your validation checklist before starting a new business?

1. Passion
2. can ship mvp < 3 months
3. Specifically know how your going to get your first 50 users

Those are the basics imo. One for each startup failure I've had.

I'd also add forget the notion of a blanket good idea. There is only only such thing as a good idea for a specific individual at a specific time.

Every individual has a math equation with bespoke variables (their specific attributes and goals) which output the perfect idea for them to work on a specific time. So focus on your equation.

What are your goals? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?

And build your idea from that.

The first thing would be: can I make $1,000 within 2-3 months?

The second thing would be: can I grow that 20%+ / month over the next few months?

I'm always anxious about whether I'm spending my time on the right thing. When I was focused on growing subscribers or building products, I never really felt confident I was spending my time wisely. But being able to tie effort to revenue growth is validating and makes me more focused.

For context I'm trying to grow a side project to $10K MRR. For those with different goals that advice may not apply

1. Is it B2B?
2. Is it bootstrappable?
3. Is it low touch sales?
4. Would I use it myself?
5. Can I define the target customer?
6. Am I smart enough to build it?

• Do I have access to 4+ potential users?
• Is it bootstrapable?
• Can I build and launch it while having a full-time job?

How often will I use it myself?
Who are the first 99 clients?
Can a functional MVP be ready in one month?

I feel like the better question is "what are you lessons learned from past startups":

https://www.indiehackers.com/post/what-was-the-lesson-from-the-ghost-of-startup-past-95708ccc9f

1. Find a problem that you think you can solve
2. Talk to people who have that problem
3. Figure out a rough solution
4. Find out what they are willing to pay for a solution
5. Get someone to pay upfront for the solution
6. Build the front end with the client no-code and user test and iterate it. (I first draw, then PowerPoint, then hire someone for Adobe XD)
7. Gives you time to Ideate the backend and make sure to identify the easiest cheapest scrappiest version. Not the scalable amazing awesome smooth one. It only needs to run for one client.
8. Until you are sure the front end is fine, start building that scrappy backend and amazing front end.
9. Make sure the client uses it. And understand how.
10. Create a marketing website with payment integration. When somebody signs up, just duplicate the backend and get it to work for that client.
11. After 10 clients I want to scale and make it better backend.

Michel.

Many good comments already, and I would include some of them. I would also definitely include the following:

• How are you going to monetize this product/service?
• How, where and to whom are you going to sell it?
• Are people going to pay for it (would you ever pay for it yourself)?

If you can't sell it, you don't have a business, you have a hobby. Also I have learned that the distance between "I think someone might pay for this eventually" is far far away from actually making a sale.

What I’ve promised myself to never do again is to pick a product that both needs to cater B2B AND B2C to be successful. Very hard! Especially to focus on which to give more attention, marketing etc

I have worked in three hardware startups and in everyone the biggest validation for us was going through Indiegogo - if there is a demand than we can scale it. But it took a few month preparations and working with advisers from Indie.

Hey!
Here I have a great checklist to Launch a Successful e-Commerce Website: https://dinarys.com/blog/how-to-launch -successful-ecommerce-website-the-ultimate-checklist

Here the main points from checklist:

1. Understand your client
2. Preliminary stage of development
3. Start developing
4. Create a logo and hosting account
5. Deal with content for the website
6. Check the quality of the website
7. Check the analytics
8. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
9. Website speed and performance
10. Usability of the website
11. Social media accounts
12. Security

All items are based on experience and international practices. Of course, it all depends on your business goals and budget.

I'm a big believer in having a huge validation checklist.

It's well-known that constraints breed creativity, but it's still unintuitive. Many believe that having a large number of items on their checklist will make it harder to settle on a good idea. Au contraire, those constraints will serve as prompts to get you thinking more creatively. You'll end up developing more great ideas as a result, not fewer. My checklist has something like 75 items on it.

If I wanted to start another bootstrapped and profitable indie hacker business, my top questions would be:

• Can I identify a group of people who find this problem so important that they're already paying a ton of money to have it solved?
• Are these people I like, respect, and would enjoy talking to dozens of times a week for years on end?
• Is there a sustainable channel I can use to reach customers consistently after I've outgrown my do-things-that-dont-scale phase?
• Do I have a unique take on a solution to the problem that my customers will appreciate?
• Can I get something out the door super quickly, i.e. without writing a ton of code?

1. Do people use/need it? -> If yes, you'll figure out what exactly they need. The market (if there is one) will always pull you in the direction it needs you to be.

2. User Research/Interviews and based on my experience (scratching my own itch).

I wouldn't use a validation checklist.

Based on what I've read and heard from too many investors, I believe using a checklist is the surest way to miss the very best opportunities.