Official skill · Strategy
Build-measure-learn loop
Turns a new idea into a one-page experiment card: the riskiest assumption, the smallest test, a metric and threshold set in advance, a decision date, and a pivot-or-persevere rule. Use it when before weeks of building something new on untested assumptions.
AI skill
Have your AI turn an idea into its smallest test
14 days free · No card needed
Works in Claude, ChatGPT, and coding agents. On Team and Business, the official skill in your pod updates itself when we improve it.
When to use it
- Before weeks of building something new on untested assumptions
- Someone asks what the MVP is or how to validate an idea
- Numbers are flat and the team argues about pivoting
What you give it
- The idea: customer, problem, offer
- Evidence so far
- Time, money and decider for one test
- Current baseline, if the product exists
What you get
An experiment card with leap-of-faith assumptions, what to learn, metric and threshold, the MVP, a persevere/pivot/in-between rule, and the next loop.
How it works
- List the leap-of-faith assumptions
- Pick the riskiest one
- Write what you need to learn
- Choose the metric and set the threshold now
- Design the smallest test
- Set the decision date and the rule
- Plan the next loop
Example
What you give it
We run a small bookkeeping firm. Idea: a monthly flat-fee 'close your books in 3 days' service for online shops with 1–10 staff. We think shop owners hate doing books and will pay $240 a month. We talked to 8 shop owners; 6 said month-end is painful. We don't know if they'd switch from their current accountant. We can spend about 3 weeks and $600 on a test. Partner Ken decides.
What you get back (the start of it)
Experiment card: Flat-fee 3-day close for online shops
Owner: [check: owner] · Decider: Ken · Start: [date] · Decision date: start + 3 weeks
Leap-of-faith assumptions
| Assumption | Type | Risk if false | Tested here? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shop owners with 1–10 staff will pay $240 a month for a 3-day close | Value | No business | Yes |
| They will switch from their current accountant | Value | Few customers even if they like it | Later (a paid first month gives a first sign) |
| We can reach shop owners cheaply online | Growth | Customer cost too high | Later |
| We can close books in 3 days at this price | Other | Margin | Later |
What we need to learn
We believe owners of online shops with 1–10 staff will book a paid first month at $240 because month-end bookkeeping is painful (6 of the 8 owners we talked to said so).
The rest of this output, the full steps and the checks the AI runs before it answers are in your pod once you add the skill.
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Changelog
- v1.0.1 · · Example: the card tests only the $240 price assumption (switching is marked Later; a paid first month gives a first sign), and the pivot rule says 'clearly below the threshold', the words its check refers to.
- v1.0.0 · · First release.
Sources
- The Lean Startup: Principles - Eric Ries (read 2026-11-04)
- The Lean Startup: the book - Eric Ries (read 2026-11-04)
- Minimum Viable Product: a guide - Eric Ries, Startup Lessons Learned (read 2026-11-04)
- Pivot or Persevere? The Key to Startup Success - Eric Ries, Entrepreneur (read 2026-11-04)