Validate
45 min setup
Validate the problem before the product
Run customer conversations about recent behavior, current workarounds, and visible consequences.
Open playbookRun the work behind an early-stage company.
Start with customer research, then move through product scope, launch, growth, fundraising, and company operations.
Choose the smallest action that can disprove the current assumption.
Use the result to set the next task.
13 operating guides5 company stages50 source links
Choose the current company stage.
Use the stage where uncertainty is highest. Company stage and financing stage may differ.
Start with a recurring task.
Validate
35 min
Define an ideal customer with observable criteria
Turn a broad market into a first-customer profile that the team can apply consistently.
Open playbook
Build
60 min
Scope a first product that can teach you something
Cut an ambitious idea down to the smallest complete loop that delivers value and tests the case.
Open playbook
Launch
60 min planning
Launch your first product
Plan a focused launch that reaches the right people, creates conversations, and keeps the team learning after day one.
Open playbook
Launch
90 min setup
Find your first ten customers
Build a focused prospect list and run founder-led outreach that starts useful conversations.
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Operate
45 min weekly
Run a founder weekly review
Create a 45-minute operating rhythm that surfaces truth, makes decisions, and protects focus.
Open playbookCompare tools by job and company stage.
Each entry links to the provider’s current product, program, pricing, or documentation page.
Compare 50 resourcesUse evidence to limit the next bet.
Concrete outputs. Finish with a decision, artifact, owner, or dated next action.
Behavioral evidence. Test assumptions with customer actions and operating data.
Scope constraints. Apply a tactic only when the stage, buyer, and runway fit.