You have this idea you can’t stop thinking about, but you’re unsure how to make it a reality.

The startups in the Univation program are following the steps to convert ideas to real MVPs (minimum viable product) and start building momentum.

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1. Create Accountability by joining the Univation program

• Join the Univation Hub program and meet the other founders
• The program's events will push you to get your idea off the ground
• Mentors keep track of your progress and keep you accountable

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2. Create a landing page

• Create a landing page with a sign-up form, so you have a page you can share with others.
• Start collecting emails and details of people who are interested, with Tally or Airtable forms
• We use Webflow, but umso, Dorik, or Typedream can build an awesome landing page in a day
• Design your logo and graphics in Canva and Logo Maker for simple designs and in Figma for more advanced ones

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3. Add value in targeted communities

• Hopefully, you’re already a member of communities you’re interested in - if not join them (Discord, Slack, Facebook, Reddit, etc.)
• Give to the community by authentically posting, sharing, commenting, etc.
• Share what you’re working on and see if others are excited about it as well

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4. Interview 5 targeted potential users

• Identify a very specific group you want to build for (eg. health tech fanatics, enterprise sales leaders, etc.), with unique needs and problems
• Find these people in your network or the targeted communities (LinkedIn, Slack communities, ProductHunt Projects, Online Events) and ask if they have a few minutes for a quick interview
• Use principles from The Mom Test to ensure interview results are valid
• Record the interviews (Grain, Dovetail, or loom) for review afterward
• After ~5 interviews, start looking for patterns or interesting tidbits

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5. Find a partner

• Find a co-founder from your circles or, if you're a student, from the university community
• Join the Univation program to find your co-founder

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6. Build an MVP

• Use the  learnings from your user interviews to create a scrappy MVP
• The goal of the MVP is to advance your learnings, not to produce a perfect experience
• This could be as simple as a form with some manual work on the other end - to test your product on real users' needs
• The second version may be a no-code app, but first optimize for speed + learning - we use bubble, for our platform, but simpler and faster tool is Softr.io

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7. Generate traction

• Improve the MVP by repeating steps 2-6
• Update the landing page, share your learnings in communities, interview more targeted people, and improve the MVP
• Create a Slack or Discord community and let the users chat and post openly about bugs, suggestions and questions
• Best traction = getting paid users
• Other traction options → get into an accelerator, get an established advisor, etc.