Phase 4: Validation | Bootspring Docs

Duration: 1-2 days

Validate your assumptions with real potential users before building.

Overview#

The Validation phase tests your preseed documents against reality. This is your opportunity to discover flaws in your thinking before investing weeks or months in development.

Why Validation Matters#

Without Validation:
  Preseed → Seed → Build → Launch → Discover problem doesn't exist
  (Months wasted)

With Validation:
  Preseed → Validate → Learn → Iterate → Seed → Build
  (Build the right thing)

80% of startups fail because they build something nobody wants. Validation dramatically reduces this risk.

Validation Types#

1. Problem Validation#

Does the problem actually exist and matter?

2. Solution Validation#

Does your proposed solution resonate?

3. Audience Validation#

Are you targeting the right people?

4. Pricing Validation#

Will people pay what you're asking?

5. Differentiation Validation#

Do your differentiators actually matter?

Problem Validation#

The Mom Test#

Use "The Mom Test" framework: Ask questions that even your mom couldn't lie to you about.

Bad Questions:

"Do you think this is a good idea?" (They'll say yes to be nice)
"Would you use this?" (Hypotheticals are unreliable)
"Is task management a problem?" (Leading question)

Good Questions:

"Tell me about the last time you felt overwhelmed by tasks"
"What did you do about it?"
"How much time do you spend on task management daily?"
"What have you tried? What worked? What didn't?"
"How much does this problem cost you?"

Interview Guide#

Prepare a structured interview guide:

## Task Management Problem Interview

### Warm-up (2 min)
- What's your role?
- What does a typical day look like?

### Problem Discovery (10 min)
- Tell me about how you manage your tasks today
- What's working well?
- What's frustrating?
- When was the last time this caused a problem?
- Walk me through that situation

### Current Solutions (5 min)
- What tools do you use today?
- What do you like about them?
- What do you wish was different?
- Have you tried alternatives? Why did you switch/stay?

### Impact (5 min)
- How much time do you spend on task management?
- What would you do with that time back?
- How does this affect your team?
- Has this ever caused you to miss a deadline?

### Closing (3 min)
- If you could wave a magic wand, what would you want?
- Anything else I should know?
- Can I follow up with you later?

Interview Targets#

Segment	Interviews	Notes
Primary ICP	5-10	Your main focus
Adjacent segments	3-5	Test expansion
Skeptics	2-3	Challenge assumptions

What to Look For#

Strong Problem Signals:

They've actively tried to solve this
They've paid for solutions
Emotional response when describing problem
Specific stories and examples
Quantified impact ("I lose 3 hours daily")

Weak Problem Signals:

"Yeah, that's kind of annoying"
Can't recall specific examples
Haven't tried to solve it
Problem is vague or abstract
No emotional weight

Solution Validation#

Show, Don't Tell#

Create materials to share your solution:

One-pager: Export your VISION.md summary
Mockups: Create simple UI mockups (Figma, even paper)
Demo video: 2-minute Loom explaining the concept

# Export vision for sharing
bootspring preseed export --format=yaml --output=vision-summary.yaml

Validation Questions#

After sharing your solution concept:

"What's your initial reaction?"
"What questions do you have?"
"What would make this better?"
"What's missing?"
"Would this solve the problem you described?"
"What concerns would you have?"

Landing Page Test#

Create a simple landing page to test interest:

bootspring seed scaffold --template=landing-page

Measure:

Conversion rate (email signups)
Traffic sources that convert
Bounce rate by segment
Scroll depth and engagement

Audience Validation#

Test Your ICP#

Your Ideal Customer Profile is a hypothesis. Test it:

ICP Attribute	Hypothesis	How to Validate
Company size	10-500	Interview across sizes
Role	Engineers	Interview adjacent roles
Pain level	Uses 3+ tools	Survey current tools
Budget	$50-200/mo	Direct pricing questions

Segment Prioritization#

After interviews, rank segments:

Segment	Problem Severity	Willingness to Pay	Accessibility	Priority
Solo devs	High	Low	High	Medium
Small teams	High	High	Medium	High
Enterprise	Medium	High	Low	Low

Pricing Validation#

Van Westendorp Method#

Ask these 4 questions:

At what price would this be so cheap you'd question quality?
At what price would this be a bargain?
At what price would this be getting expensive?
At what price would this be too expensive?

Direct Pricing Test#

"If this existed today at $15/month, would you sign up?"

Response	Signal
"Yes, definitely"	Strong
"Yes, probably"	Medium
"I'd need to think about it"	Weak
"No"	Ask why, adjust

Pre-Sale Validation#

The strongest validation: Can you get someone to pay before you build?

Offer discounted "founder" pricing
Collect payment with "shipping in X weeks"
Refundable deposits

If people pay before the product exists, you've validated demand.

Differentiation Validation#

Competitor Comparison#

Show competitors alongside your positioning:

"Here's what exists today:

Linear: Team-focused, $X/user
Height: AI features, complex
Your solution: Developer-first, AI prioritization

What stands out to you about our approach?"

Unique Value Test#

State your UVP and gauge reaction:

"We're building the only task manager that reads your code to understand priorities."

"That's interesting!" → Explore more
"How would that work?" → Good, explain
"I don't need that" → Wrong audience or weak UVP

Tracking Validation Results#

Validation Scorecard#

Create a scorecard for each validation area:

## Validation Scorecard

### Problem Validation
- Interviews completed: 8/10
- Strong problem signal: 6/8 (75%)
- Quantified impact: 5/8 (63%)
- Active solutions tried: 7/8 (88%)
**Score: VALIDATED** (>70% strong signals)

### Solution Validation
- Concept shares: 15
- Positive reactions: 12/15 (80%)
- "Would use" responses: 9/15 (60%)
- Concerns raised: 6 (address in PRD)
**Score: PARTIALLY VALIDATED** (address concerns)

### Pricing Validation
- Price tested: $15/mo Pro
- "Would pay": 7/12 (58%)
- "Too expensive": 3/12 (25%)
- Suggested price range: $10-20/mo
**Score: NEEDS ITERATION** (test $12/mo)

### Overall Readiness
[x] Problem validated
[ ] Solution needs refinement
[ ] Pricing needs testing
[ ] Ready for Seed phase: NO

Iteration Loop#

Based on validation results:

If Problem Not Validated#

Go back to Phase 1 - you may have the wrong problem.

# Start over with new problem hypothesis
bootspring preseed init

If Solution Not Resonating#

Refine in Phase 3:

# Update solution based on feedback
bootspring preseed update solution.keyFeatures '[...]'
bootspring preseed sync

If Audience Wrong#

Update your ICP:

bootspring preseed update audience.icp '{
  "role": "Engineering Manager",
  "companySize": "50-200"
}'

If Pricing Wrong#

Adjust pricing:

bootspring preseed update business.pricing.pro 12
bootspring preseed sync

Then re-validate with new assumptions.

Validation Completion Criteria#

You're ready to move to Seed when:

10+ problem interviews completed
>70% strong problem signals
Solution concept shared with 15+ people
>60% positive solution reactions
Pricing tested with 10+ people
ICP refined based on interviews
Major objections addressed in PRD
Pre-sales or waitlist signups (optional but strong)

Moving to Seed#

Once validation is complete:

# Commit validated preseed
git add .bootspring/preseed/
git commit -m "Complete preseed validation: ready for Seed"

# Start Seed workflow
bootspring seed init
# Seed will import your validated preseed data