Validation can mislead, too
Validation is supposed to protect founders from building the wrong thing. Most of the time, done well, it does. But validation isn’t foolproof. Plenty of founders “validated” their idea, built confidently, and then watched the real launch disappoint.
When validation goes wrong, it usually fails in specific, recognisable ways. The signals that looked encouraging weren’t the right signals. The audience that responded wasn’t the audience that would actually buy. The metrics that grew weren’t the ones that mattered.
Studying how validation goes wrong is the other half of validation work. The patterns are common enough that knowing them is one of the best ways to make your own validation more honest.
Mistaking interest for demand
This is the most common validation fa...
