Move Fast, Experiment, Bring the Community
Test bold ideas quickly and let your community help reveal demand.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 97%
Start with a bold hypothesis, convert it into the smallest experience that can produce meaningful evidence, and expose it to the people who might benefit. Rather than perfecting the infrastructure in private, move quickly enough to learn while the idea is still flexible. Bring the community behind the scenes so participants become collaborators, not merely customers. Evaluate actual behavior—attendance, engagement, purchases, and feedback—then use those signals to refine the format or increase the scale. Chase Jarvis illustrated the mechanism by broadcasting a photo shoot before online video education was established. When 25,000 people watched, the experiment supplied concrete evidence that a larger learning platform could work.
Origin
Chase Jarvis developed this approach while testing the earliest CreativeLive broadcasts and building an online-learning business before streaming education was established.
Core principles
- 01Treat the first version as an experiment.
- 02Test demand through real behavior rather than speculation.
- 03Invite the community into the process.
- 04Use evidence from each experiment to choose the next move.
How to run it
- 1
Form a bold hypothesis
Identify an emerging possibility that others may overlook and state what audience behavior would validate it.
Pro tip Choose a hypothesis that can be tested through observable participation rather than opinions alone.
Watch out Do not mistake enthusiasm from friends for demonstrated market demand.
- 2
Build the smallest real experiment
Create a stripped-down version that delivers the core experience without waiting for polished systems or perfect conditions.
Pro tip Reuse or adapt existing infrastructure when building everything from scratch would delay learning.
Watch out Small should still be credible enough to test the actual value proposition.
- 3
Invite the community inside
Show the work and let relevant people experience the experiment as it happens. Their participation creates both feedback and emotional investment.
Pro tip Explain what you are trying to learn so participants know their role in the experiment.
Watch out Do not hide every imperfection; visibility into the process is part of the method.
- 4
Measure behavior
Assess attendance, engagement, repeat interest, and purchasing behavior. Compare the evidence with the validation threshold established at the start.
Pro tip Give behavioral signals more weight than compliments or criticism.
Watch out A large audience does not automatically prove a sustainable business model.
- 5
Refine and scale
Preserve what worked, fix the constraints exposed by the test, and run the next experiment at an appropriate scale.
Pro tip Scale one dimension at a time when possible so you can identify what causes the result.
Watch out Do not let early success replace continued experimentation.
In the wild
Jarvis placed cameras around an album-cover photo shoot and invited his photography community to watch how he worked. Approximately 25,000 people watched live, providing behavioral evidence that people wanted remote access to admired practitioners. That result became a proof point for building a broader online-learning platform.
→ The experiment validated demand for live, internet-delivered creative education.
After commercial-photography classes attracted large audiences, CreativeLive tested wedding education with Jasmine Star. The team broadcast a real wedding and exposed viewers to the complete process, including imperfect photographs and final curation. The class attracted approximately 150,000 viewers.
→ The expanded experiment validated a new subject category and became the platform's largest class at that time.
Common mistakes
Perfecting before testing
Building a complete platform before exposing the core idea delays the evidence needed to determine whether the idea deserves investment.
Keeping the audience outside
Treating people only as final consumers sacrifices the feedback and commitment created by bringing them along for the ride.
Scaling from praise alone
Positive comments are weaker evidence than attendance, repeat engagement, or payment and can encourage premature expansion.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for entrepreneurs and creators testing new products, formats, or markets with an existing or reachable audience.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for high-stakes experiments where a rough release could create irreversible safety, legal, or reputational harm.
From the transcript
“And my mantra was to move fast was to experiment and and bring the community along for the ride,”
“The way we tested this thing was I had a photo shoot and we just put cameras up and broadcast to my community.”
“25,000 people watch that photo shoot live. And we were like, oh, this is actually a thing.”
From the episode
How to Take Bigger Business Risks with Chase Jarvis
Chase Jarvis