https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xl4RrLxAw8hQtJOnzyDZp85IFk5V4C98/edit#slide=id.p1

Criteria for getting into the Walk stage

<aside> 💡 Before applying to the stage… You’ve identified a unique, compelling opportunity (target customer, problem, unmet needs)

Once in the stage, you are… Developing a prototype, MVP, or proof of concept that can be testing with customers or validated with key stakeholders

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About your core idea

• Problem, customers and stakeholders: Good initial understanding of a sizable/large, important problem, mapping of customers and stakeholders, and their unmet needs
• Competition: Good initial understanding of existing models/competing solutions, why these solutions don’t address the problem well
• Solution idea: Have an initial hypothesis of a solution based on your work done so far

About your plans and progress

• Key assumptions & plan to validate: List the riskiest assumptions for your product and business, and identify how you plan to test those assumptions
• Evidence of customer demand: You have talked to customers, observed customers, or interacted with customers. Overall: tell us the ways you’ve interacted with customers to assess their needs. For example, you could:

  • Conduct customer problem interviews: tell us why you talked to the people you did as well as what insights you gained.

    • Avoid pitching your idea: you should be trying to understand customer problems and needs
    • You will need to talk to potential users and customers of your product / service (people other than just your friends and family) to really understand customer needs

  • Observe customers: some teams have shadowed potential customers to assess their needs

  • Other interactions: writing a blog, creating a social media following, making a podcast

  • You should avoid:

    • Surveys: surveys are unlikely to tell you anything you don’t already know. You’re not looking to learn that 80% of people do X at this point.
    • General market sizing data: while helpful to include to understand the problem you’re solving, knowing that X number of people get in car accidents per year does not help you understand customer needs