October 2026

The Four Ds to Build Your Startup

A startup is usually described by its age or its latest funding round. Neither tells you what its founders should be doing today. The Four Ds describe a startup by what it is validating right now, and therefore by the kind of support it needs.

Four stages, one thing to validate in each

Read the indicators together and with some flexibility. Few startups match every column, so ask instead which question the startup is answering now.

What each stage asks of a startup

Discovery

The startup is validating its idea. It has a prototype at most, no revenue, and perhaps pre-seed money. The product is highly moldable, which is an asset: this is the cheapest moment to learn that the problem, the customer or the solution is not what the founders assumed.

Development

The startup is validating its product or service. It has a minimum viable product and is running pilots, with some revenue and seed financing. The product is still moldable, so what pilot users do and say should shape what is built next.

Deployment

The startup is validating its business model. Early versions of the product are validated, customers pay a market price, and a Series A round has been raised. The product is less moldable now and changing course costs more, so the questions turn to pricing, sales and repeatability.

Distribution

The startup is scaling its business. The product is mature and ready to scale, customers and partners fuel revenue and growth, and financing is Series B or beyond. The work is now to extend reach while keeping the organisation coherent as it grows.

Why it matters for programmes

Innovation programmes often put startups from different stages in the same cohort, with the same curriculum, selection criteria and indicators. A Discovery team and a Deployment team need different things: the first must learn quickly and cheaply, the second needs revenue it can repeat.

Placing each startup in its D before choosing support makes three decisions easier: whom to select, which mentors and experts to match, and what progress to measure. For example, customer evidence at Discovery, pilot results at Development, and repeatable revenue at Deployment.