Working document
Startup Validation Template — Fill It In Before You Build
Eleven sections, every field something you can fill in this week. Copy the page, work through it in order, and end with a documented go-or-stop decision.
Last updated · August 19, 2026
Quick answer
What is a startup validation template?
A startup validation template is a fill-in document that turns a startup idea into a written record of its assumptions, evidence, experiments, and decision. It has eleven sections — idea, problem, customer, solution hypothesis, market, distribution, willingness to pay, product-market fit, MVP experiment, evidence log, and decision — each one a short set of prompts you can answer in a sentence. The template is not a checklist (a list of yes/no questions) and it is not a report (a structured analysis of an idea). It is the working document you fill in yourself, the artifact your team, your investors, or your future self reads when you want to know what you thought was true and why.
Key takeaways
How to use this template
- A template is a working document, not a checklist. Use it when you want to write down what you believe, what you have evidence for, and what you still need to test — not when you want a yes/no score.
- Eleven sections, run in order: idea → problem → customer → solution → market → distribution → willingness to pay → product-market fit → MVP experiment → evidence log → decision. Each section produces a paragraph or two, not a verdict.
- The evidence log is the highest-value section. Every claim you make in sections A–I must cite one row in section J. A claim without an evidence row is an assumption.
- End in the decision section. Write down what you currently believe, what remains uncertain, and what you will test next. A template that produces paragraphs but no next experiment has not done its job.
- The template is free to copy. There is no autosave, no account, no PDF export — the page is the artifact. Keep a copy in your notes, your repo, or your shared doc.
Template vs checklist vs report
Which one do I need?
Three tools, three jobs. Pick the one that matches what you are trying to do today.
Checklist
Use when you want to quickly verify that important validation areas have been considered. Read it once, tick the boxes, move on. Best for a sanity check before a build.
Template
Use when you want to document your assumptions, evidence, experiments, and decision. Read it once, then fill it in over days or weeks. Best for thinking through a new idea or pressure-testing an old one.
You are here
Report
Use when you want a structured analysis of one specific idea, with scores, named risks, and an MVP plan. Run a Startup MRI analysis in 60 seconds. Best for a defensible second opinion on a specific idea.
The validation framework
Eleven sections, one decision
The template walks through eleven sections in order. The order matters: each section's output becomes the input to the next. By the time you reach section K, you have either documented enough evidence to decide to build, or you have a list of named unknowns to test next.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
startupValidationTemplate.AEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.ATitle
startupValidationTemplate.AIntro
- startupValidationTemplate.AQ1
- startupValidationTemplate.AQ2
- startupValidationTemplate.AQ3
- startupValidationTemplate.AQ4
- startupValidationTemplate.AQ5
- startupValidationTemplate.AQ6
- startupValidationTemplate.AQ7
startupValidationTemplate.BEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.BTitle
startupValidationTemplate.BIntro
- startupValidationTemplate.BQ1
- startupValidationTemplate.BQ2
- startupValidationTemplate.BQ3
- startupValidationTemplate.BQ4
- startupValidationTemplate.BQ5
- startupValidationTemplate.BQ6
- startupValidationTemplate.BQ7
startupValidationTemplate.CEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.CTitle
startupValidationTemplate.CIntro
- startupValidationTemplate.CQ1
- startupValidationTemplate.CQ2
- startupValidationTemplate.CQ3
- startupValidationTemplate.CQ4
- startupValidationTemplate.CQ5
- startupValidationTemplate.CQ6
- startupValidationTemplate.CQ7
startupValidationTemplate.DEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.DTitle
startupValidationTemplate.DIntro
- startupValidationTemplate.DQ1
- startupValidationTemplate.DQ2
- startupValidationTemplate.DQ3
- startupValidationTemplate.DQ4
- startupValidationTemplate.DQ5
- startupValidationTemplate.DQ6
- startupValidationTemplate.DQ7
startupValidationTemplate.EEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.ETitle
startupValidationTemplate.EIntro
- startupValidationTemplate.EQ1
- startupValidationTemplate.EQ2
- startupValidationTemplate.EQ3
- startupValidationTemplate.EQ4
- startupValidationTemplate.EQ5
- startupValidationTemplate.EQ6
- startupValidationTemplate.EQ7
startupValidationTemplate.FEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.FTitle
startupValidationTemplate.FIntro
- startupValidationTemplate.FQ1
- startupValidationTemplate.FQ2
- startupValidationTemplate.FQ3
- startupValidationTemplate.FQ4
- startupValidationTemplate.FQ5
- startupValidationTemplate.FQ6
- startupValidationTemplate.FQ7
startupValidationTemplate.GEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.GTitle
startupValidationTemplate.GIntro
- startupValidationTemplate.GQ1
- startupValidationTemplate.GQ2
- startupValidationTemplate.GQ3
- startupValidationTemplate.GQ4
- startupValidationTemplate.GQ5
- startupValidationTemplate.GQ6
- startupValidationTemplate.GQ7
startupValidationTemplate.HEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.HTitle
startupValidationTemplate.HIntro
- startupValidationTemplate.HQ1
- startupValidationTemplate.HQ2
- startupValidationTemplate.HQ3
- startupValidationTemplate.HQ4
- startupValidationTemplate.HQ5
- startupValidationTemplate.HQ6
- startupValidationTemplate.HQ7
startupValidationTemplate.IEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.ITitle
startupValidationTemplate.IIntro
- startupValidationTemplate.IQ1
- startupValidationTemplate.IQ2
- startupValidationTemplate.IQ3
- startupValidationTemplate.IQ4
- startupValidationTemplate.IQ5
- startupValidationTemplate.IQ6
- startupValidationTemplate.IQ7
startupValidationTemplate.JEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.JTitle
startupValidationTemplate.JIntro
Evidence is useful when it reduces uncertainty. A customer interview reduces uncertainty by a small amount. A pre-order reduces it by a large amount. A second purchase reduces it the most. Stronger evidence narrows the range of things you could still be wrong about — it does not predict success, and no single signal guarantees an outcome.
Evidence Source Strength What it changes (your first claim and its evidence) (where the evidence came from) (weak / moderate / strong) (what this evidence forces you to update) (your second claim and its evidence) (where the evidence came from) (weak / moderate / strong) (what this evidence forces you to update) (your third claim and its evidence) (where the evidence came from) (weak / moderate / strong) (what this evidence forces you to update) (your fourth claim and its evidence) (where the evidence came from) (weak / moderate / strong) (what this evidence forces you to update) startupValidationTemplate.KEyebrow
startupValidationTemplate.KTitle
startupValidationTemplate.KIntro
- startupValidationTemplate.KQ1
- startupValidationTemplate.KQ2
- startupValidationTemplate.KQ3
- startupValidationTemplate.KQ4
- startupValidationTemplate.KQ5
- startupValidationTemplate.KQ6
- startupValidationTemplate.KQ7
After the template
What to do next
The template is the working document. The next steps depend on what the decision section in K says. If you have enough evidence to continue, narrow the scope and run the experiment in section I. If you do not, run a free Startup MRI analysis to see whether the riskiest section matches what you wrote.
60 seconds, no signup. The same 9-dimension framework, applied to your specific idea, with named risks and an MVP plan.
Nine pillars on problem, customer, solution, market, distribution, willingness to pay, product-market fit, MVP, and problem-solution fit.
If you want a yes/no pass through the same nine areas, the checklist is the short version of this template.
See what a finished Startup MRI report looks like before you submit your own.
Get a 7-Day Validation Action Plan →
Submit your idea and the report ships with a 7-day plan derived from the riskiest assumption — each day an action, a purpose, and the evidence to collect.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about the startup validation template
Short answers, in the same vocabulary the validation hub uses. Longer answers live in the linked articles.
- What is a startup validation template?
- A startup validation template is a fill-in document that walks through the idea, problem, customer, solution hypothesis, market, distribution, willingness to pay, product-market fit, MVP experiment, evidence log, and decision. Each section is a short set of prompts. The output is a working document you keep, not a score or a verdict.
- What should a startup validation template include?
- At minimum: the idea stated in one sentence, the problem stated specifically enough to disagree with, the customer named specifically enough to find, the solution described as a hypothesis, the market described by reachability not size, a named distribution channel, a named price and who pays, a measurable retention signal, a defined MVP experiment, an evidence log that cites every claim, and a written go-or-stop decision.
- What is the difference between a startup checklist and a template?
- A checklist is a list of yes/no questions you tick through quickly. A template is a working document you fill in over days, with paragraphs and evidence, not boxes. Use the checklist when you want a fast sanity check; use the template when you want a written record of what you believe and why.
- How do I document startup validation evidence?
- Keep an evidence log: a small table where every row is a claim, a source, a strength (weak / moderate / strong), and what the evidence forces you to change. Anything not in the log is an assumption, not evidence. The strongest evidence is what someone paid or committed to do, not what they said in a survey.
- What should I test before building an MVP?
- Before an MVP, you should have evidence for problem (people tell you they have it unprompted), customer (you can name a reachable segment), solution (your version beats the workaround on a named dimension), and market (you can describe the first 100 customers and the channel that reaches them). A free Startup MRI analysis scores the same four areas in 60 seconds.
- How do I record customer validation?
- Record the date, the person, the channel, the verbatim words they used, the behaviour you observed, and the commitment (if any) they made. Anecdotes without dates and quotes are not validation; they are stories you tell yourself. The evidence log in section J is the place to keep them.
- What should I do when validation evidence is weak?
- Treat it as information. Update the section that produced the weakest evidence, narrow the customer segment if the segment was too broad, change the price if the price was anchored, or replace the solution if the workaround is stronger. Do not collect more weak evidence and ignore it; update the document.
- Can AI help validate a startup idea?
- AI can score the structured inputs you give it and surface the assumptions worth testing first. It cannot talk to your customers, run experiments, or commit real money. Use AI to identify the riskiest unknown; use customer conversations to test it. The template is the artefact AI cannot replace.
Fill it in, then decide
The template produces a written record of what you believe, what you have evidence for, and what you will test next. The decision at the bottom is the only output that matters. The next step is the cheapest experiment in section I — or a free Startup MRI analysis to confirm the riskiest section.