Truth-seeking series · № 13 · a template to fill in

Startup idea autopsy

Run the funeral before the launch. You are not here to validate your idea — validation is cheap and your friends will hand it to you for free. You're here to kill it as cheaply as possible, and to be a little disappointed if you can't.

The method: list what has to be true, rank each assumption by how dead you are if it's wrong — weighted by how honest your evidence is — and test the deadliest one this week. Not the easiest one. The deadliest.

Everything you type stays in your browser (saved locally). Fill it in for a real idea — the sillier the honesty, the better it works.

What has to be true

Each assumption gets a danger score = how fatal it is if wrong × how flimsy your current evidence is. Test the highest score first — it's the cheapest place to learn you're wrong.

Kill criteria

Decide now what result makes you drop it — while you're still able to. Deciding after you've seen the data is how zombie ideas survive.