Teams over commit time, money and resources on projects that don't show any evidence of demand, and we believe it's mainly because we're used to testing feasibility (can we build it) first, rather than desirability (do people want it). By simply talking to existing or potential customers, we can collect valuable data and insights to help guide our decision-making...
The focus should not just be on products and services when running experiments to test new business ideas. Our focus should be on assessing if we are making progress from our initial idea to a profitable business.
Teams need to show hard evidence that a market exists and customers are interested (i.e. desirability), that the required infrastructure can be built and managed (i.e. feasibility), and evidence that the projected revenues and profits are not a fantasy (i.e. viability).
At the beginning of an innovation project, the financial value may not be clear. However, as the project progresses, teams should start to gather evidence around the financial value of their idea. The more leaders and teams know about the value of an idea, the better decisions they can make about whether to scale or stop work on an idea.