For First-Time Founders
You have the idea.
Now ship it.
Subtract to Ship: Validate is the working manual for first-time founders who are done preparing and ready to build something real. Tested across more than a hundred coached startups.
The problem
You have read the books.
You have not shipped the thing.
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Stuck in preparation
You have outlined the idea six different ways. You have a Notion board, a business model canvas, maybe a slide deck. Nothing is in anyone's hands.
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Too many frameworks, no process
Lean Startup. Jobs-to-be-Done. Design Thinking. They all say to validate. None of them hand you a two-week process for doing it.
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Nothing started, everything planned
The reason you have not launched is not a lack of ambition. It is that nobody told you what to remove before you begin.
The track record
The numbers behind the method.
- 100+ startups coached since 2015
- 23 day median to first revenue
- 12 products shipped & exited
Built by Felix Lenhard across twenty years of innovation consulting, twelve products at Vulpine Creations (4.9 stars, zero returns), and the startup program at Startup Burgenland.
How it works
Three moves. Two weeks. One page.
- 01
Subtraction Audit
List every assumption, feature, and dependency attached to your idea. Name the ones that are blocking the launch, not enabling it.
- 02
Kill List
A one-page artifact. The three to five things you are removing before launch. Defensible in front of a co-founder, an investor, or yourself at 2 AM.
- 03
72-Hour Sprint
Ship the minimum version of what remains. Not a prototype. A real product or service in a real customer's hands within three days.
FAQ
Common questions from first-time founders.
- Do I need a business idea before reading this?
- No. Validate helps you find one worth building. Chapter two covers idea selection from scratch.
- I have a full-time job. Is this realistic?
- Every chapter passes the Acid Test: doable by a single parent with a full-time job, no savings, and a phone.
- How is this different from The Lean Startup?
- Lean Startup tells you to validate. Subtract to Ship gives you the two-week process, the one-page artifact, and the 90-day review to actually do it.
- What if I have already built something but it is not selling?
- Start with the Subtraction Audit in chapter one. You probably built too much, not too little.
- Is the book available yet?
- Subtract to Ship: Validate releases September 15, 2026. Sign up for the letter to read excerpts before release.
Stay close
Read chapters before the book ships.
Subtract to Ship: Validate releases September 15, 2026. The letter is the way to get excerpts early.