5 Startup Launch Milestones You Can Hit Within 2 Months

A lot can happen in two months, especially for an early-stage startup. In the beginning, almost anything you do is a big step forward, whether it is sketching your idea on a piece of paper, posting a job to recruit your first team member, gathering feedback from friends and potential users, or even doing a quick Google search to study the competition.

The first two months are a critical period in the startup journey. First, it is during this time that you start learning about the viability and validity of your idea based on customer interviews and experiments. Second, even more important than the idea is your ability and willingness to execute and endure the ups and downs of pursuing this venture. If you’re hesitating and procrastinating even though you’re barely starting, chances are you won’t last till the end. Longevity is the key to startup success.

Here are five milestones every entrepreneur can hit within two months, no matter the business model, industry, or target buyer.

1. Interview Future Buyers

Unless you’re going to be the only user of your product, gathering insights from future customers is the first step that counts in startup execution. No matter how much time you spend researching the market, competitors and buyer personas, only when you start having those conversations will you truly gain tangible insights that will impact the next stages.

There is no high or low number of interviews. Entrepreneurs should be speaking with customers all the time, but if you want to have a target, use between 10 and 15 meetings. You know you got the insights you need when every new interviewee is describing the same problem and have a similar need. This initial interview period can be easily completed within two weeks.

2. Build A Clickable Prototype

Having done your market research and customer interviews, the next step is to turn your conclusions about your hypothesized value proposition, target buyer and expected solution into a prototype that your potential users can see and evaluate.

Using a prototyping tool, you can create a clickable version within a few days. Besides turning your notes into a visual presentation of the solution, a clickable prototype will save you a lot of time later when you need to describe your idea to your development team and potential investors.

3. Create A Landing Page

Customer interviews is an example of a qualitative validation channel. A landing page will allow you to validate your app idea quantitatively. Use the screenshots of your prototype to explain how your product will be different, how to use it and why your interested users should sign up early. Just likely prototyping tools, many platforms can help you create a marketable landing page in an afternoon.

4. Run An Experiment

The social media tool Buffer used a simple website and sign up form to attract thousands of users before the product was ready for launch. The investment app Robinhood had hundreds of thousands of users on the waitlist before launch. Your landing page is a simple and effective way to build an audience of future buyers and validate your idea.

For example, running an A/B test can allow you to experiment with your value proposition and business model. While A/B tests are known to be useful for picking the best layout, copy, call to actions, and pictures, at the idea stage, they can also help you choose the best idea.

For instance, it could be that your interviewees had different expectations and needs from a new solution. You can run an experiment to analyze responsiveness to different value propositions. Additionally, you can run a presale campaign to test users’ willingness to invest in a product before launch.

5. Create A Product Requirements Document

Eventually, the goal is to create a product that solves customers’ problems. The interviews, prototype, landing page and experiments would have provided you with all the insights you need to define product requirements with more certainty about customers’ interests and needs.

Without the first four stages, you would be guessing the solution, product features and customer expectations. Because one of the biggest investments in an early-stage startup is product development, the first stages will help you minimize risk and build in response to demand.

If you are a non-technical founder, this is the time to hire a technical partner to help you develop your product. Because finding the right team member could take time, it is best if you started connecting with potential hires since the beginning. Ideally, you get them involved in the process since day one, not only to test how you work together but also, they can be invaluable in the prototyping and experimentation stages.

Finally, remember to celebrate every milestone. It’s true that a lot can happen in two months, but someone needs to make them happen. It takes commitment to go from idea to validation and documentation in two months. Pause to celebrate every small win.