Zero to Founder

Validate a Business Idea

Optional. If you haven't formally validated yet, start here. 5 paying customers or 20+ user interviews with documented pain signals are the proof bar — not gut feel or compliments.

3 milestones

1. 1Problem interviews done
2. 2Solution validation
3. 3Pre-sales confirmed

Get Your First 10 Paying Customers

The single most important milestone. 10 paying customers (not free users, not followers) proves the problem is real and the solution works.

3 milestones

1. 1First paying customer
2. 25 customers
3. 310 customers

Grow a Business to $1,000 MRR

$1K MRR is the first proof that you have repeatable revenue — not just 10 friends who paid to be supportive.

5 milestones

1. 1Validate the problem with 10 conversations
2. 2Launch your minimum viable solution publicly
3. 3Collect your first payment from a stranger
4. 4Reach $100 Monthly Recurring Revenue
5. 5Hold $1,000 MRR for 30 days

Get Into an Accelerator

Optional. Apply once you have paying customers and at least some MRR. Accelerators (YC, Techstars, On Deck) are most valuable before a public scale push — they give you network and capital when the compounding still matters.

3 milestones

1. 1Pick accelerators and write the application
2. 2Submit applications and attend interviews
3. 3Receive an offer and decide

Launch Your First Product Publicly

A public launch that drives organic traffic proves you can get attention without a paid marketing budget.

5 milestones

1. 1Define 'launched' before building
2. 2Build the minimum that does one thing
3. 3Get strangers using it unaided
4. 4Measure whether it's working
5. 5Publish a public launch retrospective

Grow Your Product to 1,000 Users

1,000 users means you have a distribution strategy, not just a product.

4 milestones

1. 1Find one channel that works repeatably
2. 2Build one repeatable acquisition loop
3. 3Reach 500 users; interview word-of-mouth users
4. 4Reach 1,000 users and document changes

Find Product-Market Fit

Product-market fit is the hinge. Retention data and NPS prove it — everything before this is hypothesis testing.

3 milestones

1. 1Define your target PMF signal
2. 2Cross your PMF threshold
3. 3Name segments with and without PMF

Grow a Business to $10,000 MRR

$10K MRR is the graduation milestone. At this point you have a real business, not a side project.

3 milestones

1. 1Reach $1K MRR
2. 2Reach $5K MRR
3. 3Reach $10K MRR

Make Your First Hire

Optional. Hiring your first person is a milestone in itself — it forces you to define the role and write it down.

3 milestones

1. 1Define the role before searching
2. 2Run sourcing, interviews and references
3. 3First hire joins: 30-day review

Build and Exit

Optional. Not every founder exits, and not every exit is a VC-backed acquisition. This milestone covers any structured exit — acqui-hire, asset sale, PE buyout, or IPO — with documented terms as proof.

3 milestones

1. 1Reach $500k+ ARR
2. 2Start acquisition conversations
3. 3Deal closed