Proof

Proof is where belief becomes evidence. The purpose of this phase is not to stay busy. It is to reduce uncertainty around the parts of the business that matter most before you spend serious time, money, or product effort.

Overview

The Overview tab is the synthesis layer for the whole phase. It summarizes assumptions, tests, interviews, recurring insights, readiness, and proof category coverage so you can see whether the project is actually getting stronger.

Key signals:

• Proof confidence: A directional rollup of how much meaningful evidence you have collected.
• Readiness bars: Coverage across problem, demand, solution, pricing, channel, and retention proof.
• Assumption status mix: Whether the risky beliefs are still mostly unvalidated.
• Test status mix: Whether experiments are planned, running, validated, or invalidated.
• Interview coverage: How much real customer contact you have completed.
• Recurring pains and objections: The patterns showing up repeatedly in conversations.
• Decision watch: Whether the current evidence points toward continuing, revising, pausing, or killing the idea.

Why it matters:

• Founders can easily mistake activity for validation.
• Overview helps you judge whether the business thesis is actually getting more credible.

Tips:

• If proof confidence looks strong but the readiness bars are uneven, you probably have blind spots.
• Revisit the overview after every few tests or interviews, not only at the end.
• Weak overview sections usually mean the underlying tabs need sharper inputs, not more optimism.

Assumptions

Assumptions are the statements your business depends on being true. This tab is where you make the risky parts of the plan explicit enough to test.

Key fields:

• Statement: The belief you are relying on.
• Category: Market, customer, product, or business model.
• Status: Unvalidated, validated, or invalidated.
• Risk level: How dangerous it would be if this assumption is wrong.
• Confidence: How strongly you currently believe it.
• Importance: How much the business depends on it being true.
• Evidence notes: The proof or reasoning you have so far.
• Owner: Who is responsible for moving the assumption toward evidence.
• Decision: What the current evidence suggests you should do next.
• Proof categories: The type of proof this assumption contributes to, such as demand or pricing.
• Linked tests: Experiments that are trying to validate the assumption.
• Linked interviews: Interviews that produced supporting or conflicting evidence.

Why it matters:

• Hidden assumptions are where founders usually get blindsided.
• Writing them clearly makes it easier to prioritize the most dangerous unknowns first.

Tips:

• A useful assumption is specific enough to be disproven.
• Start with the beliefs that would do the most damage if false.
• Keep invalidated assumptions visible. They are evidence, not embarrassment.

Validation Tests

Validation Tests turn assumptions into structured experiments. A good test is specific, measurable, and tied to a decision rather than vague learning.

Key fields:

• Title: Short name of the test.
• Hypothesis: The claim you are trying to confirm or reject.
• Test type: Landing page, outreach, concierge test, pricing test, demo, survey, or similar.
• Success criteria: What outcome counts as success before the test runs.
• Status: Planned, running, validated, or invalidated.
• Result summary: What happened in plain language.
• Next action: The immediate step after reviewing the result.
• Metric: The number you care about.
• Target value: What the test needed to hit.
• Actual value: What actually happened.
• Test channel: Where the test ran, such as email, ads, community, or direct outreach.
• Audience: Who the test targeted.
• Cost: What the test required financially.
• Start / end date: The test window.
• Decision: The operational conclusion from the result.
• Linked assumption: The assumption the test is meant to inform.
• Linked interviews: Interviews that shaped or explained the result.
• Proof categories: Which type of proof the test contributes to.

Why it matters:

• Tests without clear criteria often create false confidence.
• The target-vs-actual view is what makes the result actionable instead of interpretive.

Tips:

• Decide success criteria before you run the test.
• Keep tests cheap when possible. The point is evidence, not production polish.
• If the result is unclear, refine the next test rather than forcing certainty.

Interviews

Interviews are customer-discovery conversations, not hiring interviews. They help you understand pain, urgency, alternatives, willingness to act, and whether the problem is commercially meaningful.

Key fields:

• Name: The person you spoke with.
• Status: Queued, scheduled, or done.
• Persona: The type of customer they represent.
• Company: Their company or context when relevant.
• Segment: The market slice they belong to.
• Source channel: How you found or reached them.
• Interviewer: Who conducted the conversation.
• Interview type: Discovery, follow-up, pricing, or similar.
• Interview date: When it happened.
• Duration: How long the conversation lasted.
• Notes: Main observations from the discussion.
• Quoted pain points: Direct language from the interviewee.
• Current solution: How they solve the problem today.
• Objections: Why they may resist changing behavior or buying.
• Pain severity: How painful the problem is.
• Urgency: How quickly they want relief.
• Buying intent: Directional read on whether they would act.
• Budget signal: Whether there is budget reality behind the problem.
• Willing to pay: A read on commercial potential.
• Interview outcome: Your summary judgment after reviewing the whole conversation.
• Follow-up needed: Whether more contact is required.
• Linked assumptions: The beliefs this interview informs.
• Proof categories: Which proof areas the interview contributes to.

Why it matters:

• Interviews help separate polite interest from real pain and buying behavior.
• They also surface language, objections, and alternatives that no dashboard can invent for you.

Tips:

• Ask about behavior, not hypotheticals.
• Capture exact phrases when possible. They are more useful than cleaned-up summaries.
• One strong interview is helpful, but patterns across interviews are what really matter.

Proof Categories

Proof categories help you understand what kind of evidence you actually have. Assumptions, tests, and interviews are methods. Categories tell you what the evidence is proving.

Key categories:

• Problem proof: Evidence that the pain is real, repeated, and important.
• Demand proof: Evidence that people react strongly enough to take action.
• Solution proof: Evidence that the proposed solution shape is believable or attractive.
• Pricing proof: Evidence that buyers will tolerate the monetization model and price range.
• Channel proof: Evidence that you can reach the right audience effectively.
• Retention proof: Evidence that value lasts beyond initial curiosity or first use.

Why it matters:

• It is possible to have many interviews and tests while still being weak in a critical proof area.
• Category coverage helps prevent that kind of false completeness.

Tips:

• Tag items honestly. Not every interview contributes to every category.
• Weak category coverage usually points to the next best validation move.
• Pricing and channel proof are often thinner than founders think.