Growth Readiness Check (Growth · Step 0)

Three criteria, no override: a working product, a real customer signal, and a complete ICP — before you spend on growth.

What it is

The Growth Readiness Check is the gate into the Growth track. Spending on channels before you have something people want is the fastest way to burn a budget, so this step makes you confirm the foundations first.

The Growth track at a glance

Step 0: Readiness Check → Step 1: Channel Experiments → Step 2: Unit Economics → Step 3: Decision Gate → back to Step 1

Steps 1–3 stay locked until Step 0 passes.

The three criteria

| Criterion | How it's checked | If it's missing | |---|---|---| | Working product: something a real customer can use or buy | You tick it | Link to Product Roadmap | | Customer signal: at least one paying customer, a firm commitment, or strong pre-order intent | You tick it | Link to Market Reality | | Validated ICP: Ideal Customer Profile | Automatic: passes when Target Segments and Customer Personas are both complete in the Idea Book | Link to whichever of the two is incomplete |

All three must pass. There is no override. Fix the gap, then click Save & re-check.

Be honest with the checkboxes

The first two criteria are self-declared. Ticking them early doesn't help you. Step 2 will show whether your channels actually convert. A "customer signal" means money or a firm commitment, not compliments.

When you pass

Continue to Growth takes you to Channel Experiments. Your pass is saved, so you won't need to redo it.

Open Growth Readiness Check