Reduce costs, increase adoption: Why it's important to validate your MVP idea

"We just need to build it and users will come."

I've heard this exact sentence from dozens of HealthTech founders, and I've watched the same story unfold time and again: six months of development, hundreds of thousands of dollars spent, and a product that solves a problem nobody actually has.

The hard truth about HealthTech MVPs

At Momentum, we've seen the data firsthand: 76% of HealthTech startups fail not because of poor technology, but because they built something nobody wanted.

This isn't just a startup cliché—it's the reality we face working with founders every day.

Take one of our clients from last year: a brilliant team of data scientists who spent eight months building an AI-powered diagnostic tool, only to discover that hospitals weren't ready for their solution. Not because it didn't work, but because it didn't fit seamlessly into existing clinical workflows. They had built their product based on assumptions rather than validated research.

That mistake cost them a small fortune and nearly a year of development time.

Here's what we've learned from working with dozens of HealthTech startups: validating your MVP idea isn't optional—it's what separates successful products from expensive failures.

The real cost of building without validation

When you skip validation, you pay in three currencies:

1. Money: The average HealthTech MVP requires a substantial investment to build. Without validation, you risk spending this entire budget on the wrong solution.
2. Time: The typical development cycle for a HealthTech MVP takes 4-8 months. That's time you can't get back if your core assumptions are wrong.
3. Market opportunity: While you're building the wrong product, your competitors might be talking to users and discovering what actually works.

One founder told me recently: "I wish someone had forced me to spend a month validating before I spent six months building."

How we validate HealthTech ideas at Momentum

We've developed a structured approach to validation that helps our clients avoid expensive mistakes:

1. Problem validation (before writing a single line of code)

Key questions we answer:

• Is this a real, painful problem for your target users?
• Who experiences this problem most acutely?
• How are they currently solving it (even imperfectly)?

Our method:

Instead of making assumptions, we conduct targeted interviews with 15-20 potential users. This typically reveals patterns that either validate your idea or suggest a pivot.

Real example:

A startup wanted to build a medication adherence app for elderly patients. Our research revealed that the actual users would be caregivers, not patients—completely changing their UX approach and feature prioritization.

2. Solution validation (before full development)

Key questions we answer:

• Does your proposed solution actually solve the problem?
• Will users adopt it over existing alternatives?
• What's the minimum feature set needed for meaningful adoption?

Our method:

We build clickable prototypes and run guided user tests to validate solution concepts before investing in development. For HealthTech products, we often create workflow diagrams to validate clinical integration.

Real example:

For a telemedicine platform, we built a simple prototype that tested different approaches to scheduling. We discovered that users preferred integration with existing calendars over a new scheduling system—saving weeks of unnecessary development.

3. Market validation (before going all-in)

Key questions we answer:

• Is the market large enough to support your business model?
• Who are your true competitors, and what's your advantage?
• What regulatory or adoption barriers exist in your specific segment?

Our method:

We combine competitor analysis, market sizing, and expert interviews to validate market opportunity and identify potential roadblocks.

Real example:

A startup planned to launch a B2C health monitoring platform, but our market research revealed that the go-to-market costs would be prohibitively high. We helped them pivot to a B2B2C model partnering with existing healthcare providers, dramatically reducing customer acquisition costs.

What happens when you skip validation?

We recently worked with a startup that had already invested a considerable sum building an MVP before coming to us. They'd built impressive technology, but hadn't validated their core assumptions.

Our research revealed a fundamental flaw: their product solved a problem that healthcare administrators acknowledged was real but wasn't painful enough to change existing workflows. The solution? We helped them pivot to a different use case where the pain point was more acute, salvaging much of their existing technology.

Had they validated before building, they could have saved a substantial amount and launched six months earlier.

The validation mindset

Validation isn't just about following a checklist—it's about embracing a mindset that prioritizes learning over building.

This mindset shift is particularly important in healthcare, where:

• User adoption is complicated by clinical workflows
• Regulatory considerations can derail otherwise promising solutions
• Integration with existing systems is often mandatory for success

The most successful HealthTech founders we work with don't see validation as a phase—they see it as a continuous process of testing assumptions and adapting based on feedback.

How to start validating your HealthTech idea today

You don't need a massive budget or months of time to begin validating your HealthTech idea. Here's how to start:

1. Talk to at least 10 potential users: Schedule 30-minute conversations with people who match your target user profile. Ask about their problems, not your solution.
2. Map the existing workflow: Document how people currently solve the problem you're addressing. Where are the pain points in their current process?
3. Create a simple landing page: Describe your solution and measure interest through sign-ups. For HealthTech products, offer early access to research or beta testing opportunities.
4. Build the smallest possible prototype: Create something that demonstrates your core value proposition without full functionality. This could be as simple as a clickable Figma prototype.
5. Test with real users: Put your prototype in front of potential users and observe how they interact with it. What confuses them? What excites them?

Our approach to MVP validation

At Momentum, we've refined our validation process through work with dozens of HealthTech startups. We believe in validation that's:

• Structured but adaptable - Following a framework while remaining open to unexpected insights
• Quick but thorough - Gathering meaningful data without unnecessary delays
• Evidence-based but intuitive - Combining quantitative data with qualitative insights

This approach has helped our clients save hundreds of thousands in development costs while building products that actually get adopted.

Ready to validate your HealthTech idea?

The difference between HealthTech MVPs that succeed and those that fail often comes down to validation. By investing time upfront to test your assumptions, you dramatically increase your odds of building something users actually want.

If you're ready to validate your HealthTech idea but aren't sure where to start, download our MVP Development Playbook for a step-by-step guide to the validation process.

Or if you'd prefer expert guidance, schedule a free MVP validation call with our team to discuss your specific idea and how we can help you test it before investing in development.