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Alberto Savoia

2 resources from Alberto Savoia we point founders to, and the questions each answers.

📖 Book
✓ Link checked Paid Beginner

Savoia, who led early Google AdWords, argues most ideas fail because nobody wanted them, and teaches pretotyping: cheap experiments that generate your own data on real demand before you build. You get concrete tactics like the fake-door and the mechanical-turk test, plus a way to demand skin-in-the-game commitment rather than opinions. Practical for anyone who wants a test that can prove them wrong.

The Right It: Why So Many Ideas Fail and How to Make Sure Yours Succeed

From Alberto Savoia by Alberto Savoia ~250 pages

  • Collect your own data on real behaviour instead of trusting opinions
  • Pretotype the idea to test demand before you build a prototype
  • Measure commitments like a signup or a payment, not verbal enthusiasm
Open albertosavoia.com →
Answers What does 'validating an idea' actually mean? Should I build an MVP at all, or can I validate without one? When is my product 'ready' to launch? My co-founder and I keep debating two ideas and cannot agree, how do we decide? How do I test whether people will actually pay, not just say they like it? How do I validate an idea in an industry I have no background in? How do I know when I've validated enough to actually start building? How do I validate an idea in a crowded market that already has big competitors? How do I get honest answers when the person I'm interviewing is a friend or someone in my network? I want to test my idea before writing any code. What actually is a landing-page or concierge MVP and how do I run one right? How do I actually validate my idea with a no-code prototype before I sink weeks into building the real thing? What does a 'soft launch' actually look like, and is it just a cop-out for being scared to ship? I keep tweaking the landing page instead of launching. How do I tell polishing from procrastinating? My co-founder wants a big coordinated launch, I want to just ship quietly and iterate. Who's right? I relaunched a product that failed the first time. How do I frame it so it doesn't look like I'm just recycling a flop?
📖 Book
✓ Link checked Paid Intermediate

Savoia, a former Google innovation lead, argues most ideas fail because they were never 'the right it', and he gives you cheap pretotypes (fake doors, mechanical turks, one-night stands) to get real demand data in days. Instead of asking people if they would use it, you watch whether they actually act. This is how you catch a nice-to-have before you spend a year on it.

The Right It

From Alberto Savoia by Alberto Savoia 256 pages

  • Collect your own data on whether people will actually act, not just say yes
  • Pretotypes test demand in days for pennies before you build anything
  • Most ideas fail because the market did not want it, so test that first
Open albertosavoia.com →
Answers How do I know if my idea is a real problem or just a 'nice to have'? How do I research market size and timing when I can only spend a weekend and have no budget for reports?
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