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Are We Building the Right Product? | Product Validation for Startups (15 Tests)

Today, I want to spend time on a question that rarely gets the attention it deserves—especially in early-stage companies:

Are we building the right product?

This question isn’t dramatic.
It isn’t emotional.
But it is foundational.

And because it’s foundational, it’s often skipped.

What I consistently see is capable teams building products that are interesting, clever, or well-executed—without first establishing whether the product genuinely belongs in the customer’s world.

Not whether it could belong.
Not whether it might belong.
But whether it already fits.

That gap—between what we build and what the market actually pulls for—is where most startups quietly lose time, energy, and momentum.

Over the past few years, I’ve developed a structured approach to answering this question using evidence rather than intuition.
It’s a model made up of three stages:

1. Problem–Solution Fit

2. Product–Market Fit

3. Business Model Fit

Together, these stages form a single system: the Product Fit Model.

Across them are 15 tests—five per stage—designed to help you calmly, methodically answer one question:

Are we building something that the market can naturally support?

Let’s walk through it.

All tools are available at:
👉 https://www.b2bproductbooks.com/

Stage 1: Problem–Solution Fit

Understanding before building

This is the earliest stage.
There is no scalable market yet—and that’s expected.

Your task here is not growth.
Your task is alignment.

You’re asking:

• How real is the problem?

• How strong is the proposed solution?

• And do they genuinely meet?

It’s entirely possible to identify a large, legitimate problem and still have a solution that doesn’t meaningfully resolve it. When that happens, the fit lacks integrity—and scaling only magnifies the misalignment.

1. Prototype Evidence

Let behaviour speak first.

This test exposes real users to low-fidelity prototypes, without explanation or coaching.

No selling.
No framing.
No persuasion.

Users are simply asked to engage—and you observe what happens.

This is task-based testing.
It replaces interpretation with behaviour.

When a product is live, it must stand on its own.
This test helps you see whether it already can.

2. Preference Signal

Context reveals truth

This test asks users to choose between real alternatives, including what they already use.

People have a natural bias toward the status quo.
Leaving something familiar requires a clear improvement—not a theoretical one.

By placing your solution alongside existing options, you learn whether it is distinct enough to matter.

Not whether users like it, but whether they would choose it.

3. Willingness to Pay

Commitment clarifies value

Here, users are presented with a concrete paid offer.

Not a survey.
Not a hypothetical.
A real decision.

This introduces economic reality into the validation process.
It removes politeness and replaces it with clarity.

Payment is not a revenue event here—it’s a signal of seriousness.

4. User Pull

Magnetism without effort

This test observes whether users return to the product without prompting after a pause.

It answers a quiet but important question:

Does the product naturally draw people back?

When users return on their own, it suggests the product has resolved something meaningful enough to be remembered.

This can be tested long before full development.

5. Pain Priority

Importance, not existence

This final test in stage one asks users to rank the problem you’re solving against other priorities.

Some problems are real—but not urgent.
Some are inconvenient—but tolerable.

Products built around low-priority pain struggle to sustain momentum.

This test helps you distinguish between acknowledged problems that are acted upon.

Stage 2: Product–Market Fit

Evidence in the open market

At this point, the product exists in the world.

Now the question becomes simpler—and harder:

• Do people arrive?

• Do they pay?

• Do they stay?

True product–market fit shows up without excessive explanation or pressure.

6. Demand Reality

Arrival without force

This test examines whether users arrive through repeatable channels without heavy campaigns or launch activity.

It isolates organic demand from marketing effort.

The goal is not volume—but consistency.

7. Payment Conversion

Price without negotiation

Here, users are offered the product at its intended price, without discounts or persuasion.

Discounting can obscure the truth.
This test restores it.

It tells you whether the product stands on its own economic footing.

8. Retention Without Reminders

Staying because it works

This test removes reminders and nudges to see whether users continue engaging or make payments naturally.

Retention driven by the product itself is structurally different from retention driven by follow-up.

The difference matters.

9. Replacement Behaviour

Commitment through substitution

This operator observes whether users fully replace an existing solution.

Turning off the old tool is a strong signal.
Running tools in parallel often signals uncertainty.

Replacement indicates trust.

10. Organic Pull

Advocacy without instruction

This final product–market fit test looks for unsolicited advocacy.

No referral incentives.
No prompts.

Just users sharing because the product made their work meaningfully easier or better.

When this appears, scaling becomes rational rather than hopeful.

Stage 3: Business Model Fit

Scaling without fragility

Only after the first two stages are solid does scaling make sense.

Now the question is:

Can this business grow without degrading?

11. Unit Economics Reality

Profit at the unit level

This test examines whether each customer produces a positive contribution margin using observed data.

If unit economics are weak, growth amplifies loss.

Clarity here creates leverage.

12. CAC Traceability

Cost aligned with value

This test directly links acquisition cost to customer value.

It helps ensure that growth investment returns more than it consumes.

13. Revenue Durability

Persistence without re-selling

Durable revenue renews because the product continues to deliver value—not because effort is repeatedly reapplied.

This test reveals whether revenue stability is structural or manual.

14. Cost Scaling Integrity

Margins under pressure

As markets broaden, costs often rise.

This test observes whether margins hold, degrade, or improve as revenue grows.

Strong models improve with scale.

15. Founder Dependency & Load

Growth beyond the founder

The final test assesses whether the business can operate and grow without the founder’s constant involvement.

This is not about removing the founder—but about removing fragility.

A business that continues to function when the founder steps back is a business that can mature.

Closing

These 15 tests are not about speed.
They are about certainty.

They allow you to move forward calmly, with evidence, knowing where the product fits—and where it does not.

All tools are available at:
👉 https://www.b2bproductbooks.com/

Run the tests.
Observe the signals.
And adjust with clarity rather than urgency.

If you need help interpreting the results, I’m here.

We’ll take it one step at a time.