Seven steps from question to decision.

One methodology, two cadences. The Learning Sprint runs the seven steps once, on a fixed scope and a fixed clock. Continuous Validation runs them on a rolling cycle. Same evidence standard. Same decision-ready output.

The seven steps.

1

Assumptions

Surface every load-bearing assumption behind the decision. Make them explicit, named, and sortable by risk.

Artifact: Assumption inventory with risk ranking. Typical: 2-5 days.

2

Opportunity

Frame the commercial opportunity in the language of demand, not the language of solution. What is the customer hiring this product, brand, or channel to do?

Artifact: Opportunity brief with a sized hypothesis. Typical: 3-7 days.

3

Competitive

Map the alternatives the customer is comparing you against, including the alternative of doing nothing. Identify which alternatives have unfair advantages and which have exploitable weaknesses.

Artifact: Competitive landscape with positioning gaps. Typical: 3-5 days.

4

Audience

Define who the evidence has to come from. Customer segments, the trigger event that brings them into the market, the language they use to describe the problem.

Artifact: Target audience profile and recruiting plan. Typical: 3-5 days.

5

Value Propositions

Draft the value propositions that have to land for the bet to work. Test them against the audience, in their language, before investing in design or build.

Artifact: Value-prop test results with confidence levels per claim. Typical: 5-10 days.

6

Marketing & Acquisition

Test the channels, messages, and creative that will move the KPIs. Validate the path to customer, not just the product.

Artifact: Channel and message test results with cost-per-action benchmarks. Typical: 7-14 days.

7

Framework

Roll the evidence into a decision-ready memo. Every load-bearing assumption marked supported, invalidated, or inconclusive, with evidence attached and confidence level named. Recommendation explicit: kill, reshape, or commit.

Artifact: Two-page decision memo. Built for a board to read. Typical: 2-3 days.

In a Learning Sprint.

Episodic. One scope. One clock.

L1 Diagnostic · 2 weeks

Steps 1, 2, 7

Fast outside read on what you already know. Assumption inventory, opportunity brief, decision memo.

L2 Sprint · 4-6 weeks

All seven steps

Compressed. Two to three live tests. Kill-or-commit memo with a 90-day plan.

L3 Extended · 12 weeks

All seven steps, twice

Two validation loops. Growth model included. Operating engine handed to your team.

See the Learning Sprint

In a Continuous Validation engagement.

Rolling. Multi-cycle. Insights compound.

Continuous Validation runs the seven steps on a rolling cycle. A typical month inside a Continuous engagement: one full Sprint (steps 1 through 7) plus carry-forward of evidence from the previous month's open questions. Insights compound, every cycle starts with the framework from the last cycle, not from zero. Portfolio-level views aggregate evidence across multiple validation lines so leadership can see signal trends, not just point-in-time results.

See Continuous Validation

Why the seven steps.

Comparable signal across engagements.

Every Citi Ventures bet, every Bird Buddy demand test, every Stix message test ran the same seven steps. That's how we produce comparable signal across a portfolio of bets, and across years.

Pre-commit decisions.

The framework is engineered for the moment before a capital call, a fundraise, a roadmap commit, or a brand investment, not after. Evidence in time to change the answer.

Decision-ready, not framework-ready.

The output is a memo, not a deck. Every assumption marked. Every recommendation explicit. Built for a board to read in five minutes.

Have a question on the calendar?

Tell us what you are deciding and we will tell you which of the seven steps you most need run, and whether a Sprint or a Continuous engagement is the right shape.

Book a call