Startup Tools: Validating your Startup Idea
“Follow the path that scares you the most.” Those were the words Dr. Greta Preatoni kept telling herself late one night in her lab. As a neuro-engineering PhD at ETH Zurich, Greta had discovered a promising way to relieve the chronic pain of diabetic neuropathy. Turning that science into a startup, however, meant venturing far outside her comfort zone – exactly where the best ideas often hide. Fast forward, and Greta’s startup MYNERVA is doing just that: applying cutting-edge research to improve the lives of patients who once had no hope beyond painkillers. Her journey from hesitant researcher to bold founder reveals a powerful truth about ideation: great startup ideas are born at the edge of fear and forged through a deliberate process of exploration and validation.
What Ideation Really Means (and Why It’s More Than Brainstorming)
In the startup world, “ideation” is not just a fancy word for brainstorming – it’s a disciplined journey from problem to solution. Ideation refers to forming and developing ideas from conception all the way to implementation. Crucially, it doesn’t start with “a lightbulb moment” or a cool technology in search of an application. Instead, successful founders reverse-engineer ideas from real problems. In other words, problem-first vs. solution-first thinking can make or break your startup. By clearly defining a meaningful problem up front, you ensure your idea addresses a genuine need (the number one reason startups fail is no market need!). Brainstorming will happen – but only after you’ve immersed yourself in understanding the pain points, context, and customers involved. Greta’s story illustrates this well: during her PhD research she interacted with patients and clinicians to grasp the full scope of neuropathic pain. Ideation was not a solo brainstorming session; it was an ongoing dialogue with reality.
So, what is ideation in practice? It’s a creative and courageous process of generating, refining, and validating ideas that solve a real problem for people. It blends divergent thinking (coming up with many possible solutions) with convergent thinking (narrowing down and focusing on what truly matters). It means exploring boldly – even pursuing ideas that intimidate you – and testing early to see if an idea holds water before you pour in all your time and resources.
- Field Insight: “When you start with an idea, 80% of what you pitch at the beginning is based on assumptions… and you really need to have contact with the market. The exposure to clients, at least for me, is the best way to challenge your hypothesis and concretize your offering.” – Founder of an early-stage startup
The 8-Step Ideation Framework (from Blank Page to Committed Concept)
How can you replicate this mix of creativity and rigor for your own big idea? Here’s an 8-step ideation process – part masterclass, part how-to guide – to help you go from a vague idea (or no idea at all) to a validated concept. Think of it as a cycle you can run through quickly to generate and test ideas before taking the leap. Each step includes a quick action prompt so you can apply it right now to your project:
Motivation – Find Your “Why” – Every great startup begins with personal energy. Write down why this problem or field matters to you. What excites or even enrages you about it? What change do you passionately want to see? A strong motivation will carry you through the ups and downs.
Action: Jot a one-paragraph founder mission that gives you chills. If an idea doesn’t light your fire (or scare you a bit), consider a different angle.
Problem Understanding – Fall in Love with the Problem – Identify a concrete problem worth solving. Who exactly has this problem? How do they currently deal with it, and why does it still suck for them? Talk to real people or observe situations to ground yourself in facts, not assumptions. You can use tools like the Problem Statement Canvas to get “100% clear on the problem… why it’s a big enough problem to care about, and the potential opportunity to be won if you’re successful”
Action: Formulate a one-sentence problem statement (for example, “Diabetic patients with neuropathy can’t feel their feet and live in constant pain, making everyday life dangerous and miserable.”). Make sure it addresses a specific user and outlines what’s at stake.
Trend Scanning – Scan the Horizons – Now broaden your perspective: what trends or insights can you tap into? This could be emerging technologies, scientific research, market shifts, or cultural changes. The goal is to discover new ways the problem might be solved or new contexts that make the timing right. Greta Preatoni did this by leveraging academic research in neurostimulation and noting the healthcare push for non-opioid pain therapies. Another founder literally found an idea in a journal paper: “I stumbled across a research paper about a membrane-less battery… they had a concept but weren’t sure it could scale. I saw a fluid dynamics challenge in it – which I knew I could solve”.
Action: Spend an hour on “trend safari” – read recent papers, news, or market reports related to your problem. List 3 interesting trends or facts that inspire you (e.g. a new technology, a regulatory change, a demographic shift). Ask: “How might these enable a novel solution to my problem?”
Idea Generation – Go for Quantity and Craziness – Here’s the classic “brainstorm” step – but done with all the rich context you’ve gathered. Set aside judgement and generate a bunch of solution ideas. Aim for at least 10-15 raw ideas, including some truly wild ones. Use creative techniques like SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify/Magnify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse) to spark fresh angles. For example, ask: “What if I substitute X for Y? What if I combine solution A + B? What if I eliminate the most expensive part?” The key is to push beyond the obvious.
Action: Take your problem statement and brainwrite (write quietly by yourself) a list of ideas or components. No idea is too crazy at this stage – moonshots welcome. If you already have one idea in mind, force yourself to imagine it five different ways (e.g. with different technology, business models, or target users). Diverge first; you’ll converge soon.
Clustering & Clarity – Spot Themes and Refine Ideas – Once you have a pile of ideas, it’s time to bring order to the creative chaos. Use affinity mapping to group similar ideas or find underlying themes. An affinity diagram “organizes a large number of ideas into their natural relationships… It is the organized output from a brainstorming session”. You might discover that many of your ideas actually revolve around a few core concepts. Name those clusters. Also, now’s a good moment to choose 2-3 favorite ideas that seem most promising (or thrilling).
Action: Grab sticky notes (physical or digital) and write each idea down. Arrange them into groups on a wall or whiteboard by similarity or concept – this helps reveal patterns. Circle the top 2 ideas or clusters that make your heart beat faster and seem feasible.
Quick Validation – Test the Waters Fast – Here’s where many aspiring founders stumble: they get an idea and either fall in love without evidence or get stuck in analysis paralysis. Not you. Take your top idea(s) and immediately do a mini validation. This could mean running a “NAP-Check” – a quick filter where you ask: Is there a real Need for this? Is my Approach technically/business-wise feasible and better than alternatives? Will the idea have Potential to make money or impact at scale? If you can’t confidently say yes, you may need to tweak the idea or dig deeper. Most importantly, get external input: talk to 5 potential users or customers this week, or sketch a prototype on paper and show it around. As one experienced founder advises, “If you have something that you think has value to someone else, and you don’t know if this is true or not, go to this person. Talk to this person… Try to understand what the problem is and don’t do this on paper. Go down and talk to them.” In other words, get out of the building and learn if your idea holds water.
Action: Identify the riskiest assumption in your idea (e.g. “People will be willing to wear this device 8 hours a day” or “Teachers will pay for this app”). Design a quick way to test that assumption – a conversation, an online survey, a simple landing page, or a demo. Do it within the next 48 hours. The goal isn’t to build it overnight, just to get initial signal: a thumbs-up, a cringe, a “tell me more.”
Mini-Concept – Craft a Concept Draft – Based on what you learn from quick validation, refine your idea into a more concrete mini-concept. This is like a rough draft of your eventual pitch: it should describe the problem, your solution idea, who it’s for, and why it’s better/different. You might include a simple sketch or diagram of how it works. The mini-concept is a sanity check: can you explain your idea clearly and compellingly on one page or in a 2-minute story? If not, keep iterating. Think of this as the prototype of your narrative – it helps clarify what you’re actually building.
Action: Write a one-page concept note or create 3-5 slides covering the basics (Problem → Solution → Customer → Value). Pretend you’re presenting to a friend or mentor for feedback. This exercise will expose any fuzzy thinking and force you to address it early.
Commitment – Pick the Winner and Commit – Ideation ultimately leads to a decision: which idea (if any) are you going to pursue? By now, you should have one concept that stands out on both counts of head and heart: it excites you and you’ve seen signs that others truly need it. Now it’s time to commit and go all in. That means mentally switching from “Which idea should I do?” to “How do I make this idea happen?” (Of course, you’ll continue validating and iterating as you build – but you won’t be bouncing between fundamentally different ideas.) Choosing is tough – it’s where fear can creep back in, because committing to one idea means letting go of others. Here’s where Greta’s advice echoes loudest: go for the idea that scares you (and excites you) the most. If it also happens to be the one with the most evidence of real value, you’ve struck gold.
Action: Make a public or written commitment. Tell your network or team “I’m dedicating myself to solving X problem via Y approach.” Mark a date on your calendar to build a prototype or get your first user. By staking a claim, you push yourself beyond the point of no return – where real founders are made.
Pro Tip: “Follow the path that scares you the most.” (The idea that makes you slightly nauseous – because it’s ambitious and uncertain – is often exactly the one worth pursuing. It means you’re onto something big!)
Ideation Is a Creative and Courageous Act
Coming up with a startup idea isn’t a mythical lightning strike – it’s a process you can learn and repeat. But it does ask you to be both creative and courageous. You have to brainstorm like there are no limits, and interrogate your ideas like a skeptic. You have to embrace uncertainty, and methodically reduce that uncertainty through tests. Most of all, as this article showed through Greta’s journey and the 8-step framework, you have to be willing to leave your comfort zone. Real innovation lives out there where things feel a little scary and impossible.
The good news? You don’t have to venture alone. Thousands of founders, students, and scientists have navigated this ideation journey – and you can learn from their footsteps. Take the structured steps above and try them on one of your ideas this week. Set yourself a challenge: in the next month, go through all 8 steps and develop one raw idea into a validated mini-concept. No more daydreaming – do the work of ideation. Iterate, get feedback, and pivot as needed. Even if that particular idea doesn’t fly, you’ll practice the skills to birth the next one.
In the end, ideation is about moving from “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” to “Let’s make it real.” It’s about finding the courage to pursue an idea that matters deeply to you and the discipline to shape it into something that matters to others. So what idea will you test out? Whatever it is, make it bold, make it authentic, and remember: follow your fear. That’s where the magic happens.
Ready to turn your big idea into reality? Don’t just read about it – pick one idea and run it through the 8-step ideation framework outlined above. Share your progress with a friend or mentor (or on LinkedIn – tag us, we’d love to cheer you on!). You can also download our free Ideation Template to guide you through each step, ensuring you ask the right questions at the right time. And if you’re looking for mentorship and a structured environment to develop your startup, check out programs like the Innosuisse Entrepreneurship Training. Innosuisse offers free training modules, workshops, and coaching to help you “develop your skills as an entrepreneur” and actually build that idea into a company.
The hardest part is starting – so take that first step, no matter how scary it feels. Your future self (and perhaps millions of users) will thank you!