Mentoring for startup validation and first customers
Most early-stage advice tells you to "talk to users" and leaves you alone with the hard part: which users, asking what, and what to do with the answers. This session is a working conversation about your specific idea — what evidence you actually have, what would falsify it, and the shortest path to a paying customer.
Sound familiar?
→You've been building for months and still haven't charged anyone
→Everyone says the idea is interesting; nobody is buying
→You can't tell whether to persevere, pivot, or park it
→Customer conversations feel like pitches and teach you nothing
What a session works on
✓Separating what you know from what you hope — an honest evidence audit
✓Designing customer conversations that produce decisions, not compliments
✓Finding the narrowest first market where someone pays this quarter
✓Pricing, packaging, and a realistic next 30 days
What a session gives you
“I came into the session with too many options and no clear sense of what to prioritize. Lars helped me structure the situation, compare the alternatives realistically, and identify the next step that made the most sense. I left with a clear plan I could start acting on immediately.”
Anna M., TrondheimCareer direction
“Lars quickly understood how my studies, business idea, and longer-term goals were connected. He asked the right questions, challenged some of my assumptions, and helped me turn a vague idea into a practical next experiment. The session gave me both clarity and momentum.”
Jonas K., OsloStartup and study planning
Illustrative examples of what mentees work on — real founding-mentee testimonials are published here as sessions complete.
Lars has founded and built products (including CalOne), competed in startup competitions, and sold — the unglamorous skill most technical founders skip. Expect direct, experience-based input, not incubator platitudes.
