Why Your MVP Needs a Fake Door Before You Build the Real Thing

If I had a pound for every time I watched a founder pour their soul (and savings) into a product nobody wanted, I'd have enough capital to fund my own delusional ventures. Building products people won't buy is practically a startup rite of passage—like pulling all-nighters or developing an unhealthy relationship with caffeine. But what if there was a way to test whether anyone actually wants your brilliant idea before you spend six months coding it in your parents' garage? Enter the Fake Door Test: the closest thing to entrepreneurial time travel you'll ever experience.

The Embarrassing Truth About What Founders Actually Need to Validate

Let's be honest: we founders have the remarkable ability to convince ourselves that our ideas are revolutionary. We see problems everywhere and solutions only we can provide. We interpret polite nods from friends as market validation and mistake our own enthusiasm for product-market fit.

The cold, sobering truth is that what people say they'll buy and what they'll actually reach for their wallets to purchase exist in parallel universes. Your potential customers aren't lying to you intentionally—they genuinely believe they'll use your artisanal task management app with integrated aromatherapy notifications. But when the moment of purchase arrives, that conviction mysteriously evaporates.

This is precisely where the Fake Door Test shines. It's not about asking people if they like your idea—it's about measuring whether they'll take concrete action toward purchasing it. It's the difference between "That sounds cool" and "Here's my credit card number." Before you invest months building a solution, you need to validate that the problem is actually worth solving.

How a Fake Door Test Actually Works (Without Making You Feel Like a Fraud)

A Fake Door Test is deceptively simple: you create the illusion of a product that doesn't exist yet and measure how many people try to buy it. It's like putting a door in the middle of a wall that leads nowhere—hence the name.

Having learned from my own business mistakes, I can tell you that the execution matters tremendously. The test must appear genuine enough to trigger authentic purchase behaviour but transparent enough to avoid ethical quagmires. Nobody wants to be the founder who collected 500 email addresses only to announce, "Surprise! That thing you tried to buy doesn't exist!"

Here's the basic framework:

• Create a landing page for your not-yet-real product with compelling copy, realistic pricing, and a clear value proposition.
• Drive targeted traffic to the page (ads, social media, email—whatever makes sense for your audience).
• Include a prominent "Buy Now" or "Sign Up" button that people will click if they're interested.
• When they click, reveal that the product is still in development, capture their email, and offer an incentive for their interest.
• Measure the conversion rate from visitor to "purchase attempt" to determine genuine interest.

The magic happens in what economists call "revealed preferences"—what people actually do rather than what they say. When someone clicks "Buy Now," they're demonstrating purchase intent far more reliably than when they nod enthusiastically during your pitch.

The Subtle Art of Not Looking Like a Complete Charlatan

After experiencing burnout from trying to do everything alone in my previous venture, I'm now obsessed with efficient testing methods. But efficiency shouldn't come at the cost of your reputation. The line between "clever validation technique" and "snake oil salesman" is thinner than most founders realise.

When someone clicks your "Buy" button only to discover the product doesn't exist, there's an immediate feeling of mild deception. How you handle that moment determines whether they'll become your most loyal early adopter or your most vocal critic.

The key is transparency after the click. Your "Sorry, we're not quite ready" page should:

• Thank them sincerely for their interest and explain the purpose of the test.
• Offer something valuable in return for their time (early access, founder updates, a discount).
• Be crystal clear about timeline expectations—when might they actually see this product?
• Give them a way to provide input that might shape the final product.
• Make it incredibly easy to walk away if they're not interested after all.

I once ran a fake door test that converted at 12%—dramatically higher than industry standards. I was ecstatic until I realised my landing page had inadvertently implied the product was already available. The lesson? Validation is worthless if it's based on misunderstanding.

Setting Up a Fake Door Test That Actually Delivers Meaningful Data

The trouble with Fake Door Tests is that they're deceptively simple to execute poorly. A badly designed test will give you misleading data, which is arguably worse than no data at all. At least with no data, you know you're flying blind. With bad data, you're confidently flying in the wrong direction.

Here's how to set up a test that won't lead you astray:

• Be ruthlessly specific about your value proposition—vague benefits lead to vague results.
• Price your non-existent product realistically—underpricing skews interest artificially high.
• Target people who would actually be your customers, not just people who are easy to reach.
• Measure multiple steps in the funnel, not just the final conversion (time on page matters too).
• Run the test long enough to gather statistically significant data—50 visitors won't tell you much.

I learned the hard way that cash flow matters more than vanity metrics, and this applies to testing too. A 20% conversion rate sounds brilliant until you calculate that with your customer acquisition costs and realistic market size, you'd still be operating at a loss.

What Your Conversion Rate Is Really Telling You (It's Not What You Think)

The most dangerous moment in the Fake Door process is when you're staring at your conversion data, trying to decide whether to build the product or bin the idea. This is where founders typically exercise their remarkable talent for self-deception.

Here's what different conversion rates might actually mean:

• 1-2%: This isn't necessarily a death sentence. For high-ticket B2B products, this could be sustainable. For a £9.99 consumer app? Not so much.
• 3-5%: You're in the realm of "promising but not proven." This is where the quality of your traffic and pricing strategy become critical factors.
• 5-10%: Either you've found a promising concept or your traffic is suspiciously well-qualified. Dig deeper.
• 10%+: Be suspicious. Very suspicious. Either you've struck gold, or (more likely) something is wrong with your test design.

Remember, conversion rates aren't absolute. A 3% conversion rate from cold Facebook traffic is vastly different from a 3% conversion rate from your personal network who clicked out of social obligation. Context matters enormously.

When the Data Says "No" But Your Heart Says "Go Anyway"

Having been through business failure myself, I know how tempting it is to ignore warning signs. We founders are optimistic creatures—sometimes pathologically so. When your Fake Door Test returns disappointing results, you'll face the ultimate entrepreneurial test: can you accept reality, or will you reinterpret the data until it tells you what you want to hear?

If your test performs poorly, you have several legitimate options:

• Pivot your concept based on what you've learned from the test.
• Refine your value proposition and pricing, then test again.
• Dig deeper with qualitative research to understand what's missing.
• Accept that this particular idea isn't resonating and move on to your next concept.
• Build it anyway, but with appropriately calibrated expectations and a lean approach.

What you shouldn't do is dismiss the results entirely. "The test was flawed" is the entrepreneurial equivalent of "the dog ate my homework"—occasionally true, but most often a convenient excuse.

If you do decide to proceed despite discouraging data, do so with your eyes wide open. Scale back your initial investment, set extremely clear milestones for success, and be prepared to pivot quickly if the market continues to signal disinterest.

Beyond the Click: Extracting Every Drop of Value from Your Test

The beauty of a well-executed Fake Door Test is that it generates far more than just conversion data. It's a goldmine of customer insights if you know where to look.

The truly savvy founder will:

• Analyse which traffic sources converted best to understand where your ideal customers hang out.
• Study the behaviour flow to see which parts of your offer resonated and which triggered abandonment.
• Follow up with people who clicked "buy" to understand their specific needs and use cases.
• Test different pricing tiers to identify price sensitivity and optimal positioning.
• Use retargeting to see if additional touchpoints improve conversion, indicating an education gap rather than disinterest.

One of the most valuable aspects of a Fake Door Test is that it creates a small pool of people who have demonstrated genuine interest in your concept. These people are worth their weight in gold—they're not just potential customers; they're potential co-creators who can help you refine your product before you invest significant resources.

After experiencing burnout from trying to do everything alone, I've come to see early adopters as the founder's most valuable allies. Treat them accordingly.

Ethical Considerations (Or: How Not to Become a Cautionary Tale)

Let's address the elephant in the room: Fake Door Tests walk a fine ethical line. You're essentially telling people they can purchase something that doesn't exist. This requires careful handling to avoid destroying trust before you've even launched.

The cardinal rules:

• Never take money for a product that doesn't exist and has no concrete timeline.
• Be transparent about what you're doing after the conversion action.
• Don't collect unnecessary personal information during the test.
• Respect people's time and attention—give them something of value in return.
• Follow through with updates if people express interest in your eventual launch.

Remember that every person who engages with your test is a real human being with limited time and attention. They've given you something valuable; ensure you reciprocate in some meaningful way.

I've seen founders become so obsessed with validation that they forget they're interacting with actual people, not just data points. Don't be that founder. The startup ecosystem is smaller than you think, and reputations travel fast.

The truth is that good Fake Door Tests aren't really about deception—they're about simulation. You're simulating a purchase environment to measure genuine intent. The "fake" part should be minimal and momentary.

From Fake Door to Real Product: What Happens Next

Congratulations! Your Fake Door Test showed promising results. Now what?

The transition from validation to execution is where many founders stumble. You've proven people want to buy your product—now you need to build something they'll actually love once they have it.

• Start by reaching out to everyone who converted in your test. These are your most valuable potential users.
• Build the simplest possible version of your product that delivers on your core value proposition.
• Focus on the specific features that your landing page promised—those are what people thought they were buying.
• Set up a feedback loop with early users to quickly identify and resolve issues.
• Maintain communication with your waitlist to keep them engaged during development.

The most common mistake I see founders make after successful validation is scope creep. They validated a focused, specific solution, then proceed to build a bloated "platform" with dozens of peripheral features. Resist this temptation fiercely. Build exactly what you tested—no more, no less—then expand based on actual user feedback.

Having learned from my own business mistakes about trying to do too much too soon, I can tell you that the discipline to stay focused after validation is rare but incredibly valuable.

Your goal isn't to build everything you could possibly include—it's to deliver precisely what convinced people to click that "Buy" button in the first place.

If you're struggling to identify the core of what you should build, go back to your landing page. The headlines, bullet points, and primary benefits you highlighted there are your development roadmap. Everything else can wait.

When the Fake Door Test Isn't Right for Your Business

While I'm a firm believer in the power of Fake Door Testing, intellectual honesty compels me to acknowledge that it isn't suitable for every business model or situation.

Consider alternative validation methods if:

• Your product requires significant education before purchase intent can be measured meaningfully.
• You're operating in highly regulated industries where simulated offers might create compliance issues.
• Your product solves a problem that users don't know they have until they experience the solution.
• The cost of driving sufficient traffic to your test page exceeds your validation budget.
• Your product's value proposition is intrinsically tied to its actual usage experience.

In these cases, consider alternatives like problem interviews, prototype testing, concierge MVPs (where you manually deliver the service before building the product), or small-batch production runs.

The key is to find the lightest-weight method that will give you reliable signal on whether people actually want what you're building. Fake Door Tests are just one tool in the validation toolkit—albeit a particularly powerful one.

I've seen founders become dogmatically attached to particular validation methodologies, treating them as religious doctrine rather than practical tools. Don't be that founder either. The right validation method is the one that gives you the most reliable data given your specific constraints.

Final Thoughts: The Door Is Fake, But the Insights Are Real

After experiencing burnout from trying to do everything alone, I've become somewhat obsessed with efficiency in business building. The Fake Door Test represents the kind of leverage I wish I'd understood earlier: maximum learning with minimum investment.

But beyond efficiency, there's something profoundly honest about this approach. It cuts through the wishful thinking and forces us to confront market reality before we've invested our life savings and years of effort.

I've watched too many brilliant people build products in isolation, convinced of their inevitable success, only to launch to the sound of crickets. The psychological toll of that experience is devastating. Fake Door Testing isn't just about saving money and time—it's about protecting your founder psychology from the soul-crushing experience of building something nobody wants.

The hard truth of entrepreneurship is that markets are indifferent to our passion. They don't care how clever our solution is or how many nights we stayed up building it. They care only about whether our offering solves a problem worth paying for.

The Fake Door Test gives us a glimpse of that market reality before we've fully committed. It's like being able to peek at the last page of the book before deciding whether to read it. Some might call that cheating. I call it sanity.