STEP 20Identify Key Assumptions
In This Step, You Will:
- Determine which are the most important assumptions about your business for it to be successful.
- Rank your top 5 to 10 assumptions in order of importance.
Everything is looking and feeling good but before you go and build, step back and revisit again with the benefit of greater wisdom—what are the Key Assumptions that need to go right for your new venture to work?
Why This Step, and Why Now?
Throughout the whole 24‐step process, you have been developing well‐reasoned and evidence‐based hypotheses that you have been then testing and adjusting and gaining confidence. So why do you need a special step now to do test assumptions? Good question.
This is a moment to step back and catch your breath and make sure you don't miss something big. You want to look at the broader landscape you have developed and with the wisdom you have accumulated, and now look for the most critical assumptions that need to be true for your business to be successful. You are doing it at this time because the “price of poker” (i.e., the costs of continuing forward) is about to go up dramatically. Once you start to build the product, your costs will go up significantly.
Also, as you start to transition from being predominantly in inquiry mode ...