What risk is associated with the lack of customer validation in a startup?

The association of customer validation with understanding market needs is central to the success of any startup. When a startup skips or inadequately performs customer validation, it runs the significant risk of developing a product that does not align with what potential customers actually require or value. This misalignment can lead to a number of detrimental outcomes, such as low sales, wasted resources, and ultimately, business failure. By engaging in customer validation, startups gather crucial insights about customer preferences, pain points, and behaviors, which inform product development and ensure that the product addresses real market needs. Failing to validate means the startup might base its product development on assumptions rather than actual customer feedback, which can drastically misdirect the business strategy. This is why developing a product that does not meet market needs is a critical risk tied to the lack of customer validation.