Testing and validation
Turning assumptions into experiments before the big investment decisions. Including experiments that survive long sales cycles and physical products, where a quick landing page test proves nothing.
12 articlesAll in testing and validation
Testing Business Ideas vs Lean Startup: 4 differences that matter
Teams ask me which framework is best: Testing Business Ideas, Lean Startup, customer development, or design thinking. After 100+ sessions, my answer is always the same. They overlap more than they differ. The real question is which elements fit your specific situation.
Read the article →
Innovation accounting: how to measure what your board actually needs to see
Your board wants ROI numbers for ideas that do not have revenue yet. Innovation accounting gives you the four metrics that actually measure progress in early-stage innovation. How to defend your innovation budget with evidence, not promises.
Read the article →
Pivot or persevere: how to make the decision in corporate innovation
Most pivot-or-persevere advice targets startup founders making solo decisions. Corporate innovation is different. Sunk costs, political sponsors, and team members whose jobs depend on continuation change the equation. Here is how to build the decision into the process from day one.
Read the article →
Customer discovery interviews in B2B: how to interview a buying committee, not just a contact
The Mom Test works for founders talking to consumers. But B2B customer discovery means interviewing 6-10 stakeholders per deal, each with different motivations. Here is how to run customer discovery interviews that produce real evidence in B2B.
Read the article →
The experiment library: which type of business experiment for which assumption
Most teams pick experiments based on what feels productive, not on what the assumption requires. The result: landing page tests for feasibility questions and prototypes for desirability questions. This guide organizes types of business experiments by what you actually need to learn.
Read the article →
Testing business ideas in B2B: how to validate when buying cycles are long and decisions are made by committee
Testing business ideas in B2B is harder than B2C. Long buying cycles, multi-stakeholder decisions, and limited customer access break the standard playbook. Here is how to adapt your experiments so they actually produce evidence, not just polite interest.
Read the article →
Corporate innovation experiments: how to test business ideas without putting your brand at risk
Corporate innovators face constraints that startups never deal with: brand protection, compliance, budget approval cycles, and internal politics. Here is how to run corporate innovation experiments that produce real evidence without putting your company's reputation on the line.
Read the article →
Testing Business Ideas: 44 experiments, 100+ sessions (2026)
Most teams are not testing too little. They are testing the wrong things, in the wrong order, without fail criteria. This is the field guide: 100+ sessions in industrial B2B, specific methods that work in manufacturing, and the one step that separates experiments that kill doomed projects early from ones that waste six months learning nothing.
Read the article →
How to set fail criteria for business experiments (before you start)
Fail criteria are the most important and most skipped step in business experimentation. Without them, every result becomes 'close enough.' Here is how to set fail criteria before you run your experiment, using three methods that work in B2B and industrial settings.
Read the article →
How to test business assumptions: the step-by-step process that actually works
Most teams jump straight from idea to experiment and learn nothing. The step that separates productive testing from wasted effort is not the experiment itself. It is what happens before: mapping assumptions, prioritizing by risk, and setting fail criteria before you start.
Read the article →
Business experiment mistakes: why most teams learn nothing from testing
Testing business ideas should reduce risk. Instead, most teams waste months running experiments that prove nothing. After 100+ sessions, I keep seeing the same seven mistakes. Not the obvious ones. The structural ones that let teams feel productive while learning nothing.
Read the article →
Testing Business Ideas in Manufacturing: When generic experiments don't apply
The 44 experiments in Testing Business Ideas were designed for software teams. Manufacturing needs adapted versions. Which experiment types survive contact with tooling costs, certification timelines, and 8-person buying committees? Lessons from 100+ industrial testing sessions.
Read the article →Most companies know their innovation isn't working. Few know why.
A Strategy Call is 30 minutes. You bring your situation, I bring pattern recognition from 100+ sessions at 50+ companies. No pitch. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so.