Productside Webinar

Validating Product Ideas Quickly

Getting Customer Feedback Without Writing Code

Date:

03/10/2025

Time EST:

12:00 pm
Watch Now

We live in a world where can no longer afford to invest the time or money to build even MVPs of products to get proper customer inputs – validating product ideas quickly is essential. This webinar will show you how to gather real feedback before heavy investment – often without needing to build a full product. Explore rapid testing techniques like pretotypes, user interviews, paper mock-ups, and other innovative approaches, including leveraging AI tools for quick validation. Whether you’re working on digital or non-digital products, you’ll walk away equipped to make smarter product decisions, faster 

What You Will Learn:  

  • Why traditional product validation can be too slow and costly 
  • How to test product ideas quickly using pretotypes, mock-ups, and AI-powered tools 
  • Best practices for conducting user interviews to gather actionable insights 
  • Real-world examples of rapid validation techniques in action 
  • How to avoid common validation pitfalls and false positives 

Welcome and Introductions

Tom Evans | 00:00–02:30
Hi everyone, and welcome to today’s Productside webinar, “Validating Product Ideas Quickly.” I’m Tom Evans, and I’m thrilled you’re here. Today, we’re going to talk about something that’s both timeless and timely—how to validate product ideas fast, without wasting months or millions.

Drop a quick hello in the chat and tell us where you’re joining from!

Kenny Kranseler | 02:30–04:00
Thanks, Tom—and hey everyone! I’m Kenny Kranseler from Productside. My background’s in product discovery, data, and scaling experimentation. And honestly, this topic—validating ideas quickly—is at the heart of everything modern PMs should know. Because the faster you learn, the faster you win.

About Productside and Session Overview

Tom Evans | 04:00–06:00
If you’re new to Productside, we’re an outcome-driven partner helping product teams connect strategy to delivery. Today, we’ll break down:
1. Why validation is often misunderstood.
2. How to de-risk new ideas before you over-invest.
3. Tools and frameworks for rapid learning.

We’ll also share real stories and run some quick polls—so keep that chat open.

The Real Cost of Unvalidated Ideas

Kenny Kranseler | 06:00–10:00
Let’s start with the pain. Most failed products don’t die from bad execution—they die from bad validation. Teams build what they *think* customers want instead of testing what customers *actually* do.

Validation isn’t about proving you’re right—it’s about finding out fast if you’re wrong.

Poll #1 – What’s Your Biggest Validation Challenge?

Tom Evans | 10:00–11:30
Let’s get a quick pulse—what’s your biggest challenge in validating ideas? Lack of time, unclear metrics, stakeholder pressure, or access to users?

Kenny Kranseler | 11:30–12:00
And—no surprise—“stakeholder pressure” leads. We see that all the time. Validation feels risky politically, even when it’s safer practically.

What Validation Actually Means

Kenny Kranseler | 12:00–17:00
Validation isn’t about asking users, “Would you use this?”—because they’ll always say yes. It’s about finding evidence that people *already behave* in ways aligned with your hypothesis.

So the real question becomes: what’s the smallest test you can run to learn if your assumption holds?

The “Three Levels” of Validation

Tom Evans | 17:00–22:00
At Productside, we break validation into three levels:
1. **Problem validation** – Is this a real pain?
2. **Solution validation** – Does your approach resonate?
3. **Market validation** – Can it sustain a business?

Most teams skip straight to level three—launching a solution before confirming the problem.

Poll #2 – Which Level Do You Struggle With Most?

Tom Evans | 22:00–23:30
Which level gives you the most trouble—problem, solution, or market validation?

Kenny Kranseler | 23:30–24:00
Looks like “problem validation” is winning. That’s the foundation. If you don’t validate the problem, everything else is just noise.

How to Frame Validation Hypotheses

Kenny Kranseler | 24:00–28:30
Every validation effort starts with a hypothesis: “We believe that [audience] has [problem] and will [take action] if we [do this].”

You don’t need a lab coat—you just need discipline. The goal isn’t to get it right the first time, but to learn faster each time.

Lightweight Validation Tactics

Tom Evans | 28:30–34:00
Here are five fast ways to validate an idea before you build anything:
1. **Landing page tests.**
2. **Fake door experiments.**
3. **Wizard of Oz prototypes.**
4. **Pre-orders or waitlists.**
5. **Customer interviews with real actions.**

If your validation costs more than a prototype dinner, you’re doing it wrong.

Poll #3 – Which Validation Method Have You Tried?

Tom Evans | 34:00–35:30
Let’s poll—what’s your go-to validation method? Interviews, landing pages, experiments, or none yet?

Kenny Kranseler | 35:30–36:00
Landing pages and interviews are leading. That’s great—you’re already testing ideas the right way.

Case Study – Rapid Validation in a Fintech Startup

Kenny Kranseler | 36:00–41:00
We worked with a fintech startup that thought users wanted a “budgeting assistant.” After a two-week test with a fake prototype, they learned users didn’t want *budgeting*—they wanted *automation.* That pivot cut dev time in half and 3x’d engagement.

Stakeholder Buy-In for Validation

Tom Evans | 41:00–46:00
One of the hardest parts of validation isn’t testing—it’s permission. Stakeholders think testing means delay, but it’s actually acceleration.

Frame it like this: “Would you rather spend $2,000 now or $200,000 later?” That reframes validation as insurance, not indulgence.

Poll #4 – What’s Stopping You from Validating More?

Tom Evans | 46:00–47:30
What stops you from validating more often? Time, leadership support, or lack of data access?

Kenny Kranseler | 47:30–48:00
Top answer: “Time.” Here’s the truth—validation doesn’t take long when it’s a *habit*, not a *project.*

Using AI for Faster Validation

Kenny Kranseler | 48:00–53:00
AI tools can now summarize customer feedback, cluster patterns, and simulate reactions. You can go from raw signal to test hypothesis in hours instead of days. But remember—AI should accelerate insight, not replace human curiosity.

Case Study – AI-Assisted Discovery

Kenny Kranseler | 53:00–56:00
One PM used ChatGPT to analyze hundreds of churn notes. Within an hour, she found a common pain point around onboarding. That insight drove a new experiment, cutting churn 12% in the next quarter. That’s validation at speed.

Poll #5 – Would You Trust AI Validation Insights?

Tom Evans | 56:00–57:30
Final poll—would you trust AI-derived validation insights? Yes, maybe, or not yet?

Kenny Kranseler | 57:30–58:00
About half said “maybe.” That’s healthy skepticism. AI is a tool, not an oracle.

Q&A and Closing Remarks

Tom Evans | 58:00–01:02:00
Let’s get to a few questions. One from Mia: “How do you validate B2B ideas where you have limited users?” Great one—Kenny?

Kenny Kranseler | 01:02:00–01:04:00
You validate with proxies—early design partners, customer councils, or even simulation tools. B2B validation is about conversation depth, not volume.

Tom Evans | 01:04:00–01:06:00
Fantastic. Thank you, Kenny—and thank you everyone for joining. You’ll receive the replay and templates in your inbox tomorrow.

Kenny Kranseler | 01:06:00–01:07:00
Thanks all—go validate something today!

Webinar Panelists

Kenny Kranseler

Principal Consultant and Trainer at Productside. With 25+ years at Amazon, Microsoft, and startups, Kenny inspires teams with sharp insights and great stories.

Tom Evans

Tom Evans, Senior Principal Consultant at Productside, helps global teams build winning products through proven strategy and practical expertise.

Webinar Q&A

The fastest way to validate a product idea is through pretotyping—testing customer interest before writing a single line of code. Techniques like fake door tests, paper mock-ups, and Wizard of Oz simulations let you measure real demand and engagement with minimal cost. As Kenny Kranseler explained, “The goal isn’t to build—it’s to learn.” This approach helps you prove or pivot your idea early, saving months of development and thousands in wasted effort
AI can accelerate validation by simulating user interactions, analyzing sentiment, and identifying early trends in customer feedback. Product teams use AI to generate virtual user personas, cluster insights, and test scenarios rapidly—giving them clarity before investing in full development. As Kranseler noted, AI helps teams “find patterns faster, reduce bias, and make smarter validation decisions.” Pair AI-driven insights with real user interviews for the strongest results
Your validation budget should align with your product risk. Kenny Kranseler suggests spending only a small fraction—typically less than 10% of your projected development cost—to test early assumptions. For high-risk ideas or major launches, invest more in real-world testing. For smaller features, quick experiments like landing pages or ad campaigns can generate useful data for as little as a few hundred dollars
Show them the math. Demonstrate that spending a few hundred dollars to validate now can prevent a million-dollar failure later. Use real examples—like KFC’s “Light & Crispy” launch—to show how testing assumptions early saves time, budget, and reputation. As Tom Evans put it, “Executives move when they see the cost of being wrong.” Framing validation as risk reduction and ROI protection is key to executive buy-in
The top rapid validation techniques include: Pretotypes (fake door or concierge MVPs) to test intent User interviews focused on real behavior, not opinions Paper mock-ups to visualize early concepts Landing page and ad tests to gauge market interest AI analysis to synthesize large-scale feedback fast Combine multiple methods to avoid false positives and confirmation bias. As Productside’s experts emphasize, “The best validation stack is fast, cheap, and repeatable”