From Idea to Launch: A 70-Day Guide for Entrepreneurs
In the fast-paced world of startups, speed is a competitive advantage. A 70-day (10-week) sprint is an aggressive but achievable timeframe to go from a raw idea to a launched Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This guide outlines a lean approach for aspiring founders.
The Goal: A Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
An MVP is the most basic version of your product that provides value to your first users. The goal isn't perfection; it's learning. Your 70-day plan should revolve around building this core offering and getting it into the hands of real customers as quickly as possible. This entire process is a form of project planning on hyperdrive.
"The Lean Startup method teaches you how to drive a startup—how to steer, when to turn, and when to persevere—and grow a business with maximum acceleration." - Eric Ries
The 10-Week Startup Sprint
This timeline is intense and focuses on validation at every step. It's designed to prevent you from building something nobody wants.
| Weeks | Focus | Key Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Validation & Discovery | Define your problem hypothesis. Conduct at least 20 customer interviews. Create user personas. |
| 3-4 | Solution & Prototyping | Develop your value proposition. Create low-fidelity wireframes or mockups. Get feedback on the prototype from potential users. |
| 5-8 | MVP Development | Build the single most important feature of your product. Focus on function over polish. Write landing page copy. |
| 9-10 | Launch & Learn | Deploy the MVP. Drive initial traffic (friends, social media, beta lists). Collect user feedback and key metrics (e.g., sign-up rate). |
Highlight: The Customer Discovery phase (Weeks 1-2) is non-negotiable. Talking to potential users before writing a single line of code is the single best way to de-risk your startup idea. The insights gained here will shape the entire 70-day plan. If you find your idea is flawed, you've only lost two weeks, not 10.
This process of rapid development can also be applied to learning a new skill quickly and effectively.
Sources:
- Ries, Eric. *The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses*. Crown Business, 2011.
- Osterwalder, Alexander & Pigneur, Yves. *Business Model Generation*. Wiley, 2010.