Guides

Validation Before Build: a 30-Minute Founder Clinic

Updated 13 August 2026

A founder can spend months turning an idea into a product without testing the assumption that matters most. This clinic reverses the order: find the evidence the idea needs before committing to an expensive build.

It is designed for independent founder-community organisers, coworking hubs and public-event hosts who support people at the very beginning—not established companies looking for another generic innovation talk. Founder Flight does not ask New Frontiers managers for private cohort access or participant recommendations.

The participant outcome

By the end of 30 minutes, each founder should understand the difference between product activity and business evidence, see where their own case is still resting on belief and recognise why the wrong generic test can create false confidence.

The objective is not to make every idea sound investable or design a bespoke experiment for free. It is to expose the costliest blind spot before a founder buys a large build. The paid Flight Check is the route for the tailored seven-day experiment, credible audience, pass/fail threshold and build, prototype or pause recommendation.

The 30-minute format

1. The expensive mistake

Shane shows how a working product can still leave the most important business question unanswered.

2. A live directional diagnosis

Participants use the Business Idea Check to see which evidence area looks weakest. No public score or universal validation threshold is supplied.

3. Why the same playbook fails different ideas

Two contrasting examples show why audience, behaviour and credible commitment depend on the business and the cost of being wrong.

4. The free-versus-paid boundary

The clinic explains what can be diagnosed generally and what requires tailored commercial judgement.

5. The invitation

Founders who want Shane to turn the diagnosis into a seven-day test, credible audience, threshold and recommendation can book a Flight Check; there is no obligation to do so.

Who it fits

• prospective New Frontiers applicants who need sharper customer and problem evidence;
• founders newly starting Phase 1;
• LEO Start Your Own Business participants;
• university incubator and pre-accelerator cohorts;
• non-technical founders who are considering a developer, technical co-founder or funding application; and
• founder communities that want a practical session rather than a motivational talk.

It is less useful for established companies that already have customers, product usage and a defined commercial experiment. Those teams need a different workshop.

What the organiser receives

• a 30-minute facilitated clinic, online or in person by agreement;
• a participant exercise that works without technical knowledge;
• access to the Business Idea Check and optional email-gated Pre-Flight Evidence Snapshot;
• a clear independent-provider disclaimer; and
• optional extra discussion time for general questions about the evidence gaps revealed.

During the Founder Flight launch period, Shane is offering a small number of pilot clinics free through independent Irish founder communities, coworking hubs and openly advertised events. There is no requirement for participants to buy a service afterwards, and individual experiment design is not included in the public session.

About the facilitator

Shane Garry combines commercial and finance experience from Deloitte, leadership roles at Twitter and Aleph Holding, all three phases of New Frontiers, and first-hand product work through learnlingo.ai and carehandover.ie. Founder Flight exists to help non-technical founders buy evidence before they buy a large build.

Founder Flight is independent. This clinic is not an official New Frontiers or Enterprise Ireland service. Programme requirements and participant decisions remain with the relevant provider.