Early-stage founders often assume that pre-seed funding will cover product development and early market validation, but the reality is different. Validation needs to happen before that funding comes in. Most investors won’t write you a check just because of a bold vision. They want to see real potential in what you’re building, and more importantly, you have to prove that potential. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean millions in ARR. What goes a long way are strong early signals like LOIs, paid pilots, or even a well-qualified waitlist. In fintech, where building a product requires significant regulatory consideration, those early signals can de-risk your idea, build investor confidence, and save you from costly missteps down the line. However, if you overlook that step, you risk discovering too late that not enough people actually want what you're building, which means it won’t qualify for funding. To help make sure that doesn’t happen, I’ll walk you through practical frameworks for validating your fintech startup idea before you build a product and before you pitch it to someone else. Lean Validation Pyramid The Lean Validation Pyramid is an actionable framework to test whether a product actually has a chance to succeed. It’s a hierarchical model with four key layers: Problem Validation, Audience Validation, Solution Validation, and Revenue Validation. Each layer depends on the one beneath it; so, if the bottom layer doesn’t validate, you can’t reliably move up. Let’s break this process down. First, validate the problem. Ask yourself: is the pain you’re solving a must-have, or just a nice-to-have for the audience? A real, must-have problem shows up again and again in someone’s life or workflow. People will often try to solve it in clumsy or inefficient ways: that’s a sign it matters to them. If they’re indifferent or casually interested, the problem likely isn’t urgent enough to build a business around. Next, validate the audience. Who are you building for? Who feels the pain most urgently and can you reach them? Be as specific as possible. “Small businesses” or “Gen Z users” are not audiences, they’re categories. Look for a defined group of people who share the same problem, talk about it in similar ways, and are accessible through clear channels. If you can’t identify or reach the right audience, it’s hard to go any further. Then, validate the solution. Does your offering actually solve their problem in a way they understand and want? It’s not about how elegant your idea is; it’s about whether it clicks with the people you’re designing for. Mockups, clickable prototypes, or even a narrated walkthrough can be enough to gather early reactions and refine your approach. Finally, validate revenue. Are people willing to pay for your solution or at least commit to trying it? Signals might include signed letters of intent, deposits, pre-orders, or paid pilots. Even if you’re not charging upfront, watch for strong intent to adopt and a clear path to monetization. These four layers can be used to guide your customer interviews. Ask focused questions that target each layer and listen for emotional energy, clear patterns, and real commitment. Pre-Seed Due Diligence Checklist A due diligence checklist is usually a structured list of items that investors review before deciding whether a startup is worth investing in. But it’s also a great tool for founders. You can use it to test whether your idea is real, viable, and investable. It’s a practical way to move from “I have an idea” to “I’ve validated it from an investor’s lens.” Here are the most common areas from a due diligence checklist to help you pressure-test your idea early on: 1. ​​Value Proposition This is your starting point. Is the value proposition clearly defined, in language your target audience understands? Can you articulate what the future solution will do, who it’s for, and why it matters in one or two sentences? Next, check for signals: do you have a few early expressions of interest, like signed letters of intent, waitlist signups, or initial conversations with customers who say “I need this”? Even better if there’s any investor interest or previous soft funding signals. These aren’t required, but they help confirm that your idea is hitting a real need. 2. Startup Plan You don’t need a full business operation, but a basic startup plan helps clarify your thinking. Have you outlined your assumptions? Do you have a simple pitch deck that communicates your idea, the problem you’re solving, your target users, and your proposed solution? Even at this early stage, sketching out technical feasibility (with mockups or low-fidelity product blueprints) can help surface gaps in logic or reveal unknowns. 3. Business Value You don’t have to build the entire business model but enough to prove that there’s a real opportunity. Do you have any market research that confirms people are actively trying to solve this problem or spending money around it? Have you looked into competitors? The goal is to make sure you’re not building in a vacuum. 4. Idea Transparency In fintech, this is a must. Are you regulatory-ready? Have you thought through compliance, data protection, and legal structure? Even at the pre-seed stage, investors and users need to trust that you’re building responsibly. The earlier you start thinking about transparency, the better. Customer Development “Startups don’t fail because they can’t build products; they fail because they build the wrong ones.” That’s a famous thought of Steve Blank, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and educator who came up with the process of customer development. It was based on one thing: getting out of the building, talking to people. I want to build on Steve Blank’s core insight: even if you hold all the right conversations, what really matters is how you interpret what you hear. Customer interviews don’t hand you insights on a silver platter. You have to recognize the underlying patterns, sense where the real friction is, and go beyond what’s being said on the surface. When you’re speaking with customers, don’t stop at what they say they want, listen for signs of real pain. Someone might tell you they need a better dashboard, but what’s really bothering them is having to constantly explain reports to their boss. That’s your cue to dig deeper. Pay close attention to emotional responses. If a person lights up, hesitates, or gets visibly frustrated, follow that thread: strong emotion often points to something meaningful. Watch for the creative workarounds people build for themselves. These improvised solutions are often the clearest signals that a real, unresolved problem exists. While doing these interviews, remember, a single comment doesn’t make an insight. What matters is the pattern, the recurring themes that emerge across conversations. That’s where the real understanding lives. Good customer development isn’t just about asking, it’s about interpreting, connecting, and reframing what you hear into something actionable. That’s where great ideas come from. The Results of Idea Validation In working with early-stage fintech founders, we’ve observed certain patterns that consistently lead to successful validation and early funding. The common thread isn’t a polished product or impressive branding, it’s clear signs of traction and problem-solution fit, gathered before anything was built. In one case, a team secured signed intent from credit unions and community banks before raising $200K, simply by validating a strong pain point in financial analytics. Another founder in the behavioral finance space built early credibility using advisor retention data and launched with $12K in ARR. One startup focusing on simplifying public-sector funding closed over $100K in ARR pre-seed, backed by early LOIs, which directly supported their $1.55M raise. In another example, a team used income from consulting work to fund their initial development, while testing and refining their SaaS model with early pilot clients at the same time. These examples show that strong validation doesn’t require a finished product or a big budget. What matters is a deep understanding of the problem, a focused approach to gathering real market signals, and the ability to demonstrate actual demand. If they could do it, so can you. Fintech Founder Validation Checklist If you're building your first fintech startup, the path ahead can feel unclear. There’s no shortage of advice, but very little of it tells you what to actually do first, especially when you're pre-product, pre-revenue, and pre-funding. Here's a simple, no-fluff checklist to guide your first steps: Conduct 10 in-depth customer interviews to uncover real problems, priorities, and client languageSecure 3 LOIs or pre-commitments as early proof that people are willing to actOutline an initial monetization model to define how you think you’ll make moneyCreate a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to know exactly who you’re building for and why Conduct 10 in-depth customer interviews to uncover real problems, priorities, and client language Secure 3 LOIs or pre-commitments as early proof that people are willing to act Outline an initial monetization model to define how you think you’ll make money Create a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to know exactly who you’re building for and why Once you check these boxes, you’ll be in a much stronger position to pitch, prototype, or raise. To Sum Up Validating your idea is the highest ROI work you’ll do as a first-time fintech founder. It’s what separates strong signals from hopeful assumptions and it can save you months of wasted time and effort. Before you build or fundraise, make sure you’ve proven that a real problem exists, for a real audience, who’s willing to act.

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