Validation costs too much. Testing requires full builds. Good ideas die from resource starvation.
High Capital Intensity means it costs too much to test ideas. The organization requires massive investment before learning anything.
Releasing anything less than "ready" feels unprofessional. So nothing ships until it's expensive.
Getting budget requires full specifications. Specifications require knowing what to build. Catch-22.
Testing anything requires full security, compliance, and IT review. Setup costs exceed experiment value.
"What will customers think?" Everything must be polished, even tests.
Before building anything, ask: "What's the cheapest way to learn if this works?" Often it's a conversation, landing page, or manual process—not a product.
// Validation ladder
Level 1: Customer conversations (free)
Level 2: Landing page + waitlist ($200)
Level 3: Manual/concierge MVP ($1,000)
Level 4: Automated MVP ($10,000)
Level 5: Scaled product ($100,000+)
Set aside dedicated funds for small tests that don't require business cases. "Innovation budget" with fast approval for experiments under $X.
Create a sandbox environment where teams can test quickly without full compliance/security review. Accept that test data isn't production data.
Can you get a letter of intent, pre-order, or pilot commitment before building anything? Customer commitment validates better than any prototype.
The goal isn't to avoid failure—it's to fail cheap. A $500 experiment that proves "no" is better than a $500K launch that proves "no."
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