The Three Cheap Idea Tests
Validate a business idea for under £100 with an event, a scorecard and a WhatsApp group
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 83%
Priestley runs every new idea through three near-free tests before building anything. First, an intro event: a free Zoom session, 'an introduction to [topic]', presenting four or five useful tips and seeing if thirty people show up. Second, a scorecard quiz built on Score App, 'are you ready to [outcome]? Answer ten questions and find out', where 150 completions is a strong sign. Third, a WhatsApp group offering early access or daily value, testing whether people will opt in at all. Together these cost under £100 (a free Zoom account, a Score App trial, a free WhatsApp group) yet generate real engagement data. The mindset is scientific: push doors and watch which ones open, staying emotionally detached from the result.
Origin
Extracted from Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal, presented as the fastest way to test the Concept stage of CHAOS before spending real money.
Core principles
- 01Test ideas as fast and cheap as possible.
- 02Look for the door that opens when you push it.
- 03Engagement is validation before anyone pays.
- 04You can validate demand for under £100.
How to run it
- 1
Run an intro event
Host a free Zoom 'introduction to [topic]' with a few tips and see if you can attract around thirty people.
Pro tip A Zoom account is free or almost free, so cost is near zero.
Watch out Low turnout is signal, not failure; don't take it personally.
- 2
Publish a scorecard quiz
Create a ten-question assessment on Score App inviting people to check their readiness for the outcome.
Pro tip Around 150 completions is a genuinely good validation signal.
Watch out A free trial covers this, but it lapses to roughly £29 a month.
- 3
Start a WhatsApp group
Offer early access to tickets or a daily idea and see whether people will join at all.
Pro tip People join readily because they can always leave, making it a low-friction first test.
Watch out No joiners is a clear no; move on rather than pushing harder.
In the wild
Priestley's friend Max wanted to serve family-office managers. He started a WhatsApp group, messaged prospects on LinkedIn saying a company had already agreed to join, and immediately got about nineteen people in.
→ Those nineteen members became the beginning of a very successful business.
Rather than build an expensive app, first run a thirty-person Zoom on productivity hacks, then a Score App quiz ('how's your personal productivity?'), then a daily-idea WhatsApp group, all for under £100.
→ Tests demand before any development spend.
Common mistakes
Building before testing
Spending on an app or product before checking engagement risks large sunk costs on a dead idea.
Getting emotionally invested
Treating a weak result as personal rejection stops you iterating; you're a scientist running experiments.
Is it for you?
Best for
Early founders wanting quick, low-cost signal on whether an idea has pull.
Not ideal for
Validated businesses ready to scale, or products needing regulated or physical prototypes.
From the transcript
“I've got three ways that I like to test ideas I like to run an intro event ... a quiz ... and a WhatsApp group”
“those three things cost you nothing ... we haven't spent 100 pounds yet”
From the episode
Entrepreneurship Masterclass: How to Make $10k - $1M per Month - Daniel Priestley
Daniel Priestley