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Assuming you already have an exciting idea, this guide dives into the next critical phase in building a startup: validation. If you're still refining your idea, we recommend visiting the early-stage thinking outlined in Startup for Startup Ideation’s section.

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For terminology as you go, check out:

The Startup Dictionary

Before we dive in - here are some additional libraries and resources from trusted sources:

Y-Combinator Startup School

YC Startup Library | Y Combinator

Hubspot Academy (general resources)

HubSpot Academy

1. Validating the Problem

The best startups solve real, urgent problems, not just interesting ones. Before you commit to building, make sure you truly understand the pain point you’ve identified.

Ask yourself:

• What are people doing today to solve this?
• What’s broken or frustrating about that?
• Who’s losing time, money, or opportunities because this doesn’t exist?

Rank and Filter Your Ideas

Don’t fall in love too quickly with an idea. Make sure to check-in and be open to pivoting if needed. You can use a simple scoring matrix to evaluate each idea based on the outlined below, then compare your finalists:

You don’t need a perfect score but you should know what you're trading off.

How to Evaluate Your Total Score

Don’t discard an idea just because it scores low. Instead, treat that as a call to refine or reframe.