# Step 03 · Validate before you build > Test demand with the cheapest experiment you can: a landing page, a pre-sale, a manual service. Let customers pay before you write code. URL: https://regenerate.capital/start-here/validate/ Language: en · Other language: https://regenerate.capital/fr/par-ou-commencer/valider/index.md Publisher: Regenerate Capital (https://regenerate.capital) · Updated: 2026-09-25 --- [Home](https://regenerate.capital/) / [Start Here](https://regenerate.capital/start-here/) / Step 03 Step 03 / 08 · Validate before you build # Validate before you *build*. The cheapest product is the one you didn’t have to build. Prove that people will pay, or at least commit, before you put months into code. Why it matters Building is expensive and seductive. It feels like progress, and it lets you avoid the uncomfortable work of asking for money. Every week spent building the wrong thing is runway that doesn’t come back. Validation is not a survey. It is a commitment that costs the customer something: money, a letter of intent, a pilot, a meeting on their calendar. Compliments are free, but commitments are data. How to do it ## Validate before you build 01 ### What is your riskiest assumption? Usually it is this: will this customer pay this price for this outcome? Design every test around it. 02 ### Run a smoke test A one-page site with a clear promise and a call to action, sent to the exact people you interviewed. Count sign-ups, not visits. 03 ### Sell it before it exists Pre-sales, paid pilots or deposits. If nobody will pay for the promise, few will pay for the product. 04 ### Deliver it by hand Do the job manually for your first customers. You will learn exactly what to automate. 05 ### Set a kill criterion Decide in advance which result would make you stop or pivot. Then honour it. Common mistakes - Treating sign-ups from friends as validation - Building the full product “because it is faster” - Changing the success criteria after the results come in - Validating the problem but never the price You’re ready for the next step when - Strangers have paid, pre-paid or signed a pilot - You know which feature they are really paying for - The manual version brings more demand than you can handle From the studio Our own AI agents handle research, outreach and lead qualification. That means a small team can run dozens of demand tests in the time one prototype used to take. Where the studio can help 01 ### Sales automation AI agents for prospecting, outreach, qualification and follow-up, wired into a clean CRM. Your pipeline keeps moving while the team sleeps. **Experience** · Builds and runs AI lead-generation and outreach agents across his own companies. 02 ### Go-to-market and launch Launch strategy, pricing, channels and community-led growth, including token launches for digital-asset companies. **Experience** · Co-founded TrustSwap ($400M+ market cap, users in 75+ countries). Alpaca Network’s community round raised $1.2M in 2 weeks. Read next [Recommended Readings](https://regenerate.capital/readings/) Building a company ### [The Lean Startup](https://regenerate.capital/readings/#book-lean-startup) Eric Ries Build, measure, learn: validated learning as the engine of a startup. Building a company ### [The Mom Test](https://regenerate.capital/readings/#book-mom-test) Rob Fitzpatrick How to talk to customers so they tell you the truth. The best short book on discovery. Focus and mastery ### [Essentialism](https://regenerate.capital/readings/#book-essentialism) Greg McKeown The disciplined pursuit of less, the core skill of an early-stage founder. [← Previous step02 · Find a problem worth solving](https://regenerate.capital/start-here/find-a-problem/) [Next step →04 · Build the smallest thing that works](https://regenerate.capital/start-here/build/) Work with the studio ## Building something worth growing? Tell us what you’re building and what you need. We read every application, and every founder gets an answer. [Apply to work together](https://regenerate.capital/apply/)