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Introduction
Validating your market opportunity is a critical step before dedicating valuable resources to bring your product to life. First, you need to understand if a real market pain exists by talking to real prospects and testing product mockups. Getting a deep understanding of the market opportunity, finding the right design partners to iterate on the product with, and building an informed product roadmap will all get you on the road to product-market fit (PMF).
This chapter will help you discover who you’re selling to, narrow in on your target audience and validate your idea so you can build a product that fills a real need in the marketplace.
Chapter Authors
What You'll Get
00 guides
00 tools
This chapter will cover
Design partner benefits slide
Product Roadmap 4 lists worksheet
Focus exercise for SaaS startups
Tools in this chapter
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Template
Product designer job descriptions
Examples of compelling product designer job descriptions for roles at Superhuman, Figma, and more.
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Template
Product designer job descriptions
Examples of compelling product designer job descriptions for roles at Superhuman, Figma, and more.
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Spreadsheet
Modern GTM Planner Calculator
This spreadsheet template will help you calculate the costs of marketing, sales, and demand gen to meet your revenue goals.
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Spreadsheet
Modern GTM Planner Calculator
This spreadsheet template will help you calculate the costs of marketing, sales, and demand gen to meet your revenue goals.
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Guide
The Unusual Salesforce (SFDC) Package
Installation and usage documentation for the Unusual Ventures Salesforce package.
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Guide
The Unusual Salesforce (SFDC) Package
Installation and usage documentation for the Unusual Ventures Salesforce package.
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Spreadsheet
Outreach Conversion Calculator
Track how well your outreach campaign is performing with this simple tool.
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Spreadsheet
Outreach Conversion Calculator
Track how well your outreach campaign is performing with this simple tool.
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Deck
Define your Market Segments
Define your market segments and get your GTM motion going.
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Deck
Define your Market Segments
Define your market segments and get your GTM motion going.
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Guide
Modern GTM User/Buyer Journey Map
USERs in our framework have a specific hierarchy of needs and a behavior pattern that founders must understand. In this map, we walk you through a USER's self-service approach to finding and using new solutions to the point where they are ready to engage with Sales. We then continue the journey as Sales engages the USER and BUYER to build a business case and close a deal.
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Guide
Modern GTM User/Buyer Journey Map
USERs in our framework have a specific hierarchy of needs and a behavior pattern that founders must understand. In this map, we walk you through a USER's self-service approach to finding and using new solutions to the point where they are ready to engage with Sales. We then continue the journey as Sales engages the USER and BUYER to build a business case and close a deal.
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Checklist
Pre-Seed gut-check questions
Questions to ask yourself and your potential co-founder(s), and about your product/market before you start your company
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Checklist
Pre-Seed gut-check questions
Questions to ask yourself and your potential co-founder(s), and about your product/market before you start your company
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Guide
Sales interview questions
Set of interview questions to vet for a successful VP of Sales or CRO hire
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Guide
Sales interview questions
Set of interview questions to vet for a successful VP of Sales or CRO hire
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Guide
Candidate intent assessment
Use this set of questions to assess candidate intent at each stage of the interview process.
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Guide
Candidate intent assessment
Use this set of questions to assess candidate intent at each stage of the interview process.
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Worksheet
Customer storytelling worksheet
Articulate the "Three Whys" for your company's B2B product
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Worksheet
Customer storytelling worksheet
Articulate the "Three Whys" for your company's B2B product
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Guide
Cohort Analysis Primer
Learn more about cohort analysis for consumer subscription businesses
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Guide
Cohort Analysis Primer
Learn more about cohort analysis for consumer subscription businesses
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Guide
Consumer Subscription Evaluation Rubric
Evaluation Rubric for a Seed-Stage Consumer Subscription Company
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Guide
Consumer Subscription Evaluation Rubric
Evaluation Rubric for a Seed-Stage Consumer Subscription Company
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Template
Product Testing Plan Doc
Share this document with your customer during your Product Testing Planning call.
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Template
Product Testing Plan Doc
Share this document with your customer during your Product Testing Planning call.
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Calculator
Deal Scorecard
Use the deal scorecard to determine the likelihood of a deal closing.
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Calculator
Deal Scorecard
Use the deal scorecard to determine the likelihood of a deal closing.
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Guide
Discovery Questions
List of common discovery questions. Feel free to use as a guide and customize for your startup.
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Guide
Discovery Questions
List of common discovery questions. Feel free to use as a guide and customize for your startup.
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Worksheet
Hypothesis & Personas Exercise
Come up with your own hypotheses and personas
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Worksheet
Hypothesis & Personas Exercise
Come up with your own hypotheses and personas
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Guide
Employee guide template
Use Ride Report's employee guide as a starting template for creating your company's own guide.
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Guide
Employee guide template
Use Ride Report's employee guide as a starting template for creating your company's own guide.
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Guide
ICP and Personas Exercise
Questions to define your ICP and User and Buyer Personas
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Guide
ICP and Personas Exercise
Questions to define your ICP and User and Buyer Personas
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Checklist
Company/candidate checklist
A comparative checklist for companies vs. candidates
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Checklist
Company/candidate checklist
A comparative checklist for companies vs. candidates
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Guide
Customer Interview Guide
Guide for interviewing customers
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Guide
Customer Interview Guide
Guide for interviewing customers
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Worksheet
Brand Story Exercise
Messaging checklist and exercise to build your own brand story
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Worksheet
Brand Story Exercise
Messaging checklist and exercise to build your own brand story
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Worksheet
Get to Aha! DNA Test
Test to discover your brand's DNA
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Worksheet
Get to Aha! DNA Test
Test to discover your brand's DNA
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Template
Offer Letter Template
Offer letter template for early employees
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Template
Offer Letter Template
Offer letter template for early employees
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Worksheet
"Why Buy Now" Framework
Framework for discovering your "Why Buy Now"
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Worksheet
"Why Buy Now" Framework
Framework for discovering your "Why Buy Now"
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Three Why's Framework
Framework for discovering "Why Buy Now"
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Three Why's Framework
Framework for discovering "Why Buy Now"
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Guide
Customer Research Guide
Guide to Conducting Customer Research
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Guide
Customer Research Guide
Guide to Conducting Customer Research
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Guide
Product Requirements Template
Product Requirements Template
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Guide
Product Requirements Template
Product Requirements Template
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Template
Amazon Press Release Template
Amazon Press Release Template
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Template
Amazon Press Release Template
Amazon Press Release Template
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Deck
Project Review Template
Project Review Template
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Deck
Project Review Template
Project Review Template
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Deck
Kickoff Meeting Template
Kickoff Meeting Template
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Deck
Kickoff Meeting Template
Kickoff Meeting Template
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Guide
Consumer Social Evaluation Rubric
An evaluation guide for pitching your consumer social app
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Guide
Consumer Social Evaluation Rubric
An evaluation guide for pitching your consumer social app
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Deck
Outline Seed Deck
Outline investor deck for a Seed Round
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Deck
Outline Seed Deck
Outline investor deck for a Seed Round
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Deck
Outline Series A Deck
Outline investor deck for a Series A Round
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Deck
Outline Series A Deck
Outline investor deck for a Series A Round
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Deck
Outline Series A board meeting deck template
Outline Series A Board meeting presentation
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Deck
Outline Series A board meeting deck template
Outline Series A Board meeting presentation
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Template
Executive memo template
Simple template for aligning executive staff
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Template
Executive memo template
Simple template for aligning executive staff
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Spreadsheet
Founder prioritization heatmap template
GPP Heatmap to sort and tackle competing priorities
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Spreadsheet
Founder prioritization heatmap template
GPP Heatmap to sort and tackle competing priorities
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Filter
Deal Qualification Filter
Filter to qualify sales leads and discover real opportunity
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Filter
Deal Qualification Filter
Filter to qualify sales leads and discover real opportunity
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Calculator
Math of Sales Calculator
Calcuate needed outreach to reach revenue goals
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Calculator
Math of Sales Calculator
Calcuate needed outreach to reach revenue goals
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Deck
Outline customer deck
Outline deck for your first customer meeting
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Deck
Outline customer deck
Outline deck for your first customer meeting
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Worksheet
Product Roadmap 4 lists worksheet
Exercise for defining your four lists
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Worksheet
Product Roadmap 4 lists worksheet
Exercise for defining your four lists
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Worksheet
Focus exercise for SaaS startups
Exercise for finding your focus
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Worksheet
Focus exercise for SaaS startups
Exercise for finding your focus
Everything starts with honing in on the market pain and the right solution to address it. To go from idea to sellable product, start with the first step: Customer validation.
