Try Validator is an independent library of practical guides to testing a startup or product idea before you bet your time and savings on it: customer interviews, smoke tests, MVPs, pricing experiments, the statistics behind them and the odds behind every decision.
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A practical, step-by-step method for testing a startup or product idea: the riskiest assumption, customer evidence, willingness to pay and the point at which you stop testing and start building.
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Pricing & MetricsIdea Validation Tools Compared: What to Use at Each StageAn independent overview of the kinds of tools used to validate ideas, from interview scheduling and surveys to landing pages, analytics,…August 11, 2026
Bets & OddsSports-Betting Data Startups: Validating a Data-Driven IdeaHow sports-betting data businesses work and how to validate an idea in the space: official data rights, odds and pricing models, tracking…October 13, 2026
Pricing & MetricsProduct-Market Fit: The Signals That Matter and How to Measure ThemHow to tell whether you have product-market fit: the Sean Ellis 40% test, flattening retention curves, organic growth and how a casino…July 28, 2026
Experiments & MVPsPrototype Testing in Mobile Games: CPI Tests and Retention GatesHow mobile game studios validate game ideas before full production: marketability tests with ads, cost per install, early retention gates…July 14, 2026
Bets & OddsCrowdfunding vs. the Lottery Mindset: Pre-Validated LaunchesThe difference between a crowdfunding campaign that validates demand and one that is a lottery ticket: odds, base rates, the Pebble story,…September 22, 2026
Experiments & MVPsA/B Testing Statistics for Founders: Sample Size, Power and PeekingThe statistics behind trustworthy A/B tests explained simply: significance, power, minimum detectable effect, sample size rules of thumb,…June 16, 2026For testing a brand-new idea from the first assumption to the first honest answer.
For measuring what people do, not what they say they will do.
For putting a price and a number on the opportunity.
For founders who want to think about risk the way professional bettors do.
Frequently Asked Questions
It means finding the assumption most likely to sink the idea and testing it with the cheapest experiment that could prove you wrong. Validation cannot prove that an idea will succeed; it changes the odds by killing weak ideas early and earning the right to bigger tests. Read the step-by-step method.
For most ideas the first round takes a few weeks rather than months: a couple of weeks of customer interviews, then a smoke test or a concierge pilot. Set the pass mark before each test so that you know when to continue, change direction or stop. See how a smoke test works.
AI scorers can produce a tidy 0-100 rating and a useful checklist of questions, but the score is built from text, not from customers. Treat it as a prompt for what to test, never as evidence that people will pay. Can AI score your startup idea?.
Talk to people who have the problem about what they did the last time it happened, then put a simple landing page or pre-order in front of strangers. Clicks, sign-ups and deposits tell you far more than compliments. Customer discovery interviews.
Every startup is a wager placed under uncertainty. Poker players, sports bettors and casino operators have spent decades thinking about expected value, bankrolls and streaks, and their habits translate directly to testing ideas. Visit the Bets & Odds section.
No. In 2023 tryvalidator.com briefly hosted an AI app that scored startup ideas. It went offline and the domain later changed hands. Try Validator is a separate, independent publication: we do not score ideas, sell credits or hold any accounts from that app. About Try Validator.
No. Every guide on the site is free to read, with no sign-up, credits or log-in. Browse all guides.
Don't gamble on your startup idea.
Validate it and make data-driven decisions.