In this solo Morning Drive segment, the host explains a practical method for validating business ideas before building a full product. He defines a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as a stripped‑down offering that delivers just enough value for a customer to decide to pay, even though the product is imperfect and still in development. The core technique he calls “sell the tell” involves pre‑selling the idea to a small group of early adopters at a steep discount, openly disclosing the product’s unfinished state and potential risks. By securing actual money, the entrepreneur gains concrete proof of demand; if no one pays, the idea should be abandoned. He illustrates the concept with an anecdotal story about Uber’s founders who initially coordinated rides via text messages before building an app. The segment also includes a brief, unrelated travel recommendation, but the main takeaway is that real‑world purchasing intent, not just interest, is the decisive test for an idea.
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There it is. It wasn't recording at first. I had to move my head around and make it record. Good morning to you. Now, it's not really morning when I'm recording, but this is called the morning drive, so let's just pretend it's morning. Okay, back to our question. How do you test an idea? So this concept of a minimum viable product is you reduce your offering to the componentry that does not necessarily wow the customer. It's not of extraordinary service to them. It's not a perfect product, but has the componentry ones that will serve them adequately for them to make a purchasing decision. If you can get someone to buy something, this is the key, they got to spend money, they're demonstrating through their actions, then that they see value in your offering. Well, then you have something. Now, here's the thing, speak the truth that this is an imperfect product, that you're in the development process, and trying it out. I remember the story of Uber. Now, I don't know if this is mythology or story, but this is representative of the concept of an MVP, minimum viable product. They set up, the founders had cell phones and they would text people that were looking to drive when they had a friend that was looking to get picked up and they were organizing it via cell text back and forth to see if this concept was viable and then expand into the app. So that would be a concept. But I'll give you a little kind of added technique. I call it sell the tell. So when you have a concept, go to your prospects and subscribers and say, Hey, I got this great idea I'm thinking about bringing about. Don't say, what do you think of it? That's the mistake. Instead, say, I got this great idea that I'm gonna bring about, or I'm thinking about bringing about, but I wanna see if you are interested. Would you be willing, or invite you to purchase it now? Now here's the deal. Because it's just an idea, there's not even a product or service that's been developed whatsoever, you gotta offer it at a discount or some reason for people to join early, some major benefit for being a major risk taker. So what I would do is say, "Hey, I have this new idea I'm coming out with. We're gonna be charging $500 for it, but if you're one of the first 10 people we're allowing to play with this concept I'm developing, it's only $100 instead of $500," or whatever it is. So it's significantly reduced. I also tell people, I inoculate them to the potential problems and saying, "You know, this is just an idea, and if it doesn't work, there's gonna be some bumps and bruises. I will improve it as we move along, but don't expect perfection." What I'm doing is I'm testing if people will buy the tell. If I introduce it— ah, we're at another stop sign. Best state to visit? Oh, that's a good one. The state of fun, the state of insanity, the state of great times. Now, the best state to visit is probably something out west, probably Wyoming. The views, Montana, are gorgeous. The national parks insane. So I'll go with that. The hiking, breathtaking. So minimum viable product, sell the towel, make an offer, but also inoculate, prepare people by explaining what the risks are. If no one's willing to depart with money, your idea isn't good enough. I wouldn't develop the concept further until I develop the idea further. So there you have it, the minimum viable product concept But initiate with the sell the tell. That's your morning drive.
