Idea

Stage Description and Characteristics

The Idea Stage is the initial phase of the startup journey, where founders have identified a problem they want to solve and have a concept for a tech solution. At this stage, the focus is on refining the idea, validating the problem, and understanding the target market. Founders may have a rough idea but have not yet designed or developed a minimum viable product (MVP).

Characteristics of this stage include:

Idea generation and validation

Market research and analysis

Business model exploration

Problem-solution fit

Key Challenges to be Solved:

Clearly defining the problem and understanding its urgency

Identifying the target market and their needs

Researching and validating the market need for a possible business idea

Assessing desirability, feasibility, and viability probability

Assessing the potential competition and differentiating the product or service from other existing alternatives

Key Milestones to Reach:

Clearly Defined

Problem Hypothesis Statement⁠

⁠

Clearly documented

market research⁠

⁠

Early customer discovery Feedback Documented

Clearly Identified potential target market and customer segments

Ideally define your ICP

First Draft Lean Canvas

Completion of customer discovery interviews with at least 10 target market individuals

Have some clear idea of a possible MVP

Complete VOLTA Academy Worksheets

Creation of a problem-solution fit hypothesis

Progress and Growth Tracking:

Key learnings gathered

Track the completion of customer discovery interviews and insights gained

Monitor the refinement of the value proposition and problem-solution fit hypothesis

Triggers to Graduate to the Next Stage:

Defined problem-solution fit

Defined Problem Hypothesis

A clear vision and mission statement

A well-defined target market and possible target segments defined

Strong signals from early customer discovery towards an urgent problem being solved

Should move through Academy within 6 months

Subject Matter Expert Support:

Value Proposition Development: Specialists in crafting compelling value propositions can guide founders in clearly articulating the unique benefits their solution offers to the target market and differentiating it from competitors.

Customer Discovery: Experts in customer discovery techniques can assist founders in conducting effective interviews and analyzing insights.

Problem-Solution Fit: Advisors with experience in assessing problem-solution fit can help founders evaluate and refine their problem and growth hypotheses based on customer discovery findings.

Market Research: Experts in market research can help founders understand their target market, its size, and its potential for growth.

Validation Experiments: Conducting small experiments to test assumptions and validate the viability of the idea.

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.