# Decision: hold — validate demand

Studio Review · illustrative assessment · revision 4

Fictional example — not validated research. The business, notes and economic assumptions are synthetic teaching material. No buyer interviews, live market research, paid pilots or funding results are established here.

## The question

Which claims can this pre-seed case support, and what should be validated before investor conversations?

## Recommendation

Test demand before using it to support the raise. Describe demand as a hypothesis in investor conversations; the fictional founder notes cannot support a claim of validated demand. The cost of the workaround, buying authority and willingness to switch are unknown.

## Why hold?

- A scattered feedback workflow is plausible, but its frequency and cost have not been observed.
- Email, PDF review and shared drives are alternatives to investigate, not benchmarked competitors.
- €79 per month is a proposed price, not evidence of willingness to pay.

[Inspect the research and sample source](research.md#sample-source).

## What would change the answer?

Actual buyers describe a recurring costly problem, existing alternatives leave a material gap, and a defined paid pilot tests the proposed value and price. Revisit the business-direction recommendation when that evidence exists. This does not establish investor approval or likely funding.

## Next action

Observe the current workflow with permission. [Review the proposed validation method and criteria](validation.md). A small selected sample can help refine the hypothesis; it cannot establish market prevalence or validated demand.

## Economic limits

The synthetic contribution is €60 per customer per month and simple acquisition payback is 4 months. [Read the assumptions and missing inputs](economics.md); no supported revenue forecast, cash plan or runway can be calculated.