Pretotype

Design the smallest possible experiment to test the riskiest assumptions before writing a line of code. A pretotype is not an MVP — it is a fake-it-before-you-make-it test that validates demand with minimal investment.

Input Dependencies

Read from ./founder-outputs/ before proceeding:

• assumption-map-output.md — Priority 1 assumptions to test (most critical)
• customer-archetype-output.md — who to test with (if available)
• pressure-test-output.md — demand signals to validate (if available)

If assumption-map-output.md is missing, recommend the user run /assumption-map first. Without knowing which assumptions are riskiest, the experiment design is unfocused.

Frameworks

• Pretotype It (Savoia) — the source methodology. "Make sure you are building the right it before you build it right." Pretotypes test market demand, not product quality. The question is "would anyone want this?" not "can we build it well?"
• The Lean Startup (Ries) — validated learning. Every experiment must produce learning, not just data. Define the hypothesis, the metric, and the decision criteria before running the experiment.

Pretotype Types