
Validate Your Idea Using a Letter of Intent (LOI) - trevor99
http://theleanstartupmachine.com/2011/10/validate-your-idea-using-a-letter-of-intent-loi/
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dmk23
"Letter of intent" is a very weak validation.

Either you can get an actual contractual commitment with a check or you still
have not closed the deal...

Don't waste time crafting LOI language and focus on the actual sales process
of getting the customer to commit to buying your solution.

Nobody is going to be impressed by LOI that does not bind customer to
anything. Don't break out a champagne unless they actually put skin in the
game.

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jc123
_A good strategy is to start with a fairly week LOI like this one and reduce
the “escape clauses,”..._

Sounds like good advice. In Ries's recent book on Lean Startup, there's a
story of one of Votizen's unsuccessful pivots which were based on letters of
intent.

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ryanlchan
This is a really important step to remember. The 'decreasing discount' method
is only really effective when you not only decrease the discount but increase
the concreteness. The steps should be from oral agreement -> non-binding LOI
-> binding LOI -> payment. And you want to get to a confirmed payment; without
that step you don't have any idea what someone's actually willing to pay.

