About Valid Startup

You can think of Valid Startup as a detailed, guided instruction manual for building a real company — combined with human support.

The focus is on ensuring that founders’ business ideas can be profitable enough to meet their goals before spending significant time or money fully building and launching them.

In addition to text- and video-based instruction, the platform includes pre-built spreadsheets, community forums, weekly office hours, and practical tools throughout to support entrepreneurs on their business journeys.

Experienced entrepreneurs and first-time founders use Valid Startup to:

• Generate business ideas
• Clarify what they are building and why
• Verify whether an idea can be profitable
• Identify real, reachable target customers
• Understand pricing, costs, and unit economics
• Test go-to-market assumptions
• Build clear, realistic financial projections
• Prepare for outside funding — including grants, loans, venture capital, and alternative financing
• Validate real-world demand before significant investment
• Move forward with confidence — or pivot early with clarity
  
  

Rather than relying on gut instinct or surface-level feedback, entrepreneurs are guided through a structured validation process that mirrors how experienced operators, investors, and lenders evaluate opportunities.

The goal is not just to start businesses —
it’s to help people build businesses that are viable, fundable, and sustainable.

Entrepreneurs are more likely to follow through and succeed when supported by a mentor and accountability partner. The Valid Startup Coaches Program enables business coaches, educators, and experienced professionals to use the Valid Startup curriculum and tools to start or expand their own business offerings.

We take pride in the fact that our Certified Coaches have real business experience and have demonstrated their understanding of the curriculum through our certification test. For those who are not yet ready to take the test but are passionate about supporting entrepreneurs, we work with them to build the necessary skills to effectively guide entrepreneurs through the program. 

Valid Startup also works with coaches to market their services and to place them with community programs and colleges that need qualified leaders and mentors.

By enabling coaches to teach and mentor using Valid Startup, we extend our mission beyond a single platform — creating a scalable way to support entrepreneurs, strengthen communities, and multiply impact.

For organizations, Valid Startup offers a turnkey entrepreneurship platform designed to help cities, colleges, and communities launch programs that turn ideas into real, sustainable businesses.

We believe economic development doesn’t come from pitch competitions alone — it comes from startups and small businesses that actually launch, generate revenue, and create jobs. Valid Startup exists to make that outcome more likely, repeatable, and accessible.

The platform includes a management and program layer that allows organizations to support groups of entrepreneurs at the same time, without having to build curriculum or infrastructure from scratch.

This enables:

• Cities and municipalities
• Colleges and universities
• Economic development organizations, and 
• Nonprofits 

to launch practical entrepreneurship programs or incubators that focus on real outcomes — not just participation or pitch events.

When more entrepreneurs succeed, communities benefit through:

• Job creation
• Stronger local economies
• Increased economic resilience
• Higher quality of life
  
  

Valid Startup helps institutions support entrepreneurship efficiently, affordably, and at scale — while keeping the founder experience at the center. When needed, we also work with organizations to identify and place qualified leaders to facilitate and manage their programs.

Accessibility
Entrepreneurship should be accessible to all who are willing to do the work. We are committed to removing unnecessary barriers and expanding access to the tools, guidance, and capital needed to start and grow a business.

Integrity
Trust is earned through honesty and transparency. We are clear about what our platform can and cannot do, and we focus on helping entrepreneurs make informed decisions — not selling hype or false promises.

Clarity
Starting a business is complex. Our role is to make it understandable. We provide practical, step-by-step guidance and are here to support entrepreneurs when something isn’t clear.

Accountability
Tools alone don’t build businesses — people do. Entrepreneurs who succeed are those who show up, engage with the process, and use the resources available to them. We encourage ownership, consistency, follow-through, and informed decision-making.

Community
Entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be a solo journey. We foster an open, supportive community where entrepreneurs learn from one another, share experiences, and grow together — with active participation from the Valid Startup team.

Impact
We consistently reinvest in entrepreneurs and the communities that support them — through funding, resources, partnerships, and programs designed to create lasting economic and social value.

Valid Startup is informed by over 20 years of hands-on experience working with entrepreneurs, investors, incubators, and early-stage businesses across industries. It was written by humans — not AI.

It reflects what actually works, not just in theory but in practice. While not all startups and small businesses need outside funding, to date 57% of those who complete the program have received term sheets for revenue-based financing or traditional venture capital.

👉 Meet the original author, Jennifer P. Hopp

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