April 2025 - Validation Brakdown
When a product hasn't "sold" yet — whether that's literally not generating revenue, or more broadly not landing with the right people — it’s not just about demand. It’s often about misalignment, blind spots, or missing scaffolding. So let’s break down the product into its core components and explore where “unvalidation” (a beautiful term, btw) might be hiding:
🌱 1. Problem-Solution Fit
- Have we truly understood the problem?
- Is it an urgent or frequent enough pain or desire?
- Does it matter deeply to the people we're building for?
- Are we solving the right problem, or a symptom of a deeper one?
- Sometimes we’re treating the fever, not the infection.
📍 Unvalidation possibility: You're solving a problem that doesn't feel real, pressing, or priority to your audience.
💡 2. Value Proposition
- What are we really offering — and to whom?
- What’s the emotional and practical value?
- Does our language land? Is it clear, resonant, and compelling?
- Are we communicating the “why now”?
- Even great value gets lost without context or urgency.
📍 Unvalidation possibility: Messaging is misaligned, unclear, or lacks emotional resonance or urgency.
🧩 3. Target Audience / Early Believers
- Who are we co-creating with, not just for?
- Are we engaging the people who feel this most deeply?
- Do we truly understand their worldview, constraints, and language?
- Are we assuming a market that doesn’t yet exist?
- (This might be okay, if you’re building a movement, but you’ll need to validate that.)
📍 Unvalidation possibility: We're pitching to the wrong people or too wide a crowd — or our early tribe hasn’t been activated yet.
🎁 4. Delivery Mechanism / Experience
- Is the format usable, delightful, accessible?
- How easy is it to access, try, or participate?
- Does the experience reflect our values?
- Especially for collaborative, trust-based tools — the “how” matters as much as the “what.”
📍 Unvalidation possibility: The product is too complex, clunky, or doesn't invite people in (even if the core idea is solid).
🌐 5. Community and Trust Layer
- Do people feel invited, seen, empowered?
- Especially for CollabBerry-style products — are we building with people, or just shipping at them?
- Are we establishing trust, credibility, and emotional safety?
- The relational layer is often the real unlock.
📍 Unvalidation possibility: Lack of community engagement, emotional resonance, or social proof (esp. for trust-based models).
💸 6. Compensation + Exchange Model
- Is the pricing / exchange model aligned with values + perceived value?
- Are we offering ways for people to contribute (not just pay)?
- Have we had a “conversation” about compensation?
- Not just price, but value, trust, and mutual growth.
📍 Unvalidation possibility: Misalignment between perceived value and cost; or not enough flexibility in how people can engage.
🌀 7. Feedback Loops + Iteration Practice
- Are we actually listening?
- Are we structured to gather, interpret, and act on feedback?
- Are we afraid of being wrong, or eager to be surprised?
📍 Unvalidation possibility: We're not iterating with real signals, or we're filtering too much through our own lens.