A few months ago, I was coaching a CTO named Alex. Alex had been tasked with an ambitious goal: “Increase adoption of our new analytics platform.” The board wanted results, the CEO wanted urgency, and Alex’s team wanted clarity. The pressure was intense.
When Alex and I sat down, the conversation started the way it often does: “We think customers want deeper dashboards, so we’re going to add a new reporting module.”
I asked a simple question: “How do you know that’s the reason adoption is slow?”
Alex paused. The truth was, he didn’t know. He had jumped straight from goal → solution without surfacing the assumptions in between. If he was wrong, the company would spend months of engineering time building a feature that might not matter.
Together, we reframed the challenge:
Goal: Increase adoption.
Hypothesis 1: Customers aren’t engaging because the onboarding flow is confusing.
Hypothesis 2: Customers don’t see value in the first 30 days.
Hypothesis 3: The reporting features don’t match what customers expect.
Instead of building the full reporting module, Alex’s team ran a quick Proof of Concept: a clickable mockup of an onboarding revamp, tested with 10 customers. The results were clear: when onboarding was simplified, adoption would spike.
The insight saved the team months of work, focused them on the right problem. This gave Alex a very persuasive success story for the CEO and Board.
✅ Results achieved
✅ Urgency matched
✅ Clarity found
That’s the power of a structured PoC.
Why Proof of Concepts Matter
A PoC isn’t a mini product or a prototype. It’s not about creating something polished or ready for customers. Instead, it’s about proving or disproving a single, focused hypothesis as quickly and cheaply as possible.
Done well, a PoC:
Accelerates learning by giving us evidence, not opinions.
Reduces risk before we over-invest in the wrong solution.
Builds confidence with stakeholders by making abstract ideas tangible.
Creates decision points where we can move forward, pivot, or stop.
Done poorly, a PoC consumes weeks of engineering time, produces unclear results, or morphs into a half-built product no one asked for.
The difference isn’t luck; it’s structure.
Structuring a High-Value PoC
When you structure a PoC, think of it as an experiment, not a project. That means asking:
What’s the single hypothesis we’re testing?
If you’re testing more than one, you’re setting yourself up for muddled results.How will we know if it worked?
Define success metrics up front. Otherwise, you’ll spend weeks debating what the results “mean.”What’s the smallest test we can run?
The power of a PoC is in its speed. Scope it down until it feels almost too small—then you’re close.How will we share the results?
The PoC only creates value if others can understand it. Plan how you’ll communicate the outcome before you start.When will we stop?
PoCs without end points become zombie projects. Define your decision trigger: what outcome will tell you to move forward, pivot, or stop entirely?
Together, these steps form the backbone of the HALTS framework we teach in the CTO Levels curriculum offered in the 7CTOs Growth group coaching program I run:
- Hypothesis
- Assess Success
- Limit Scope
- Tell the Story
- Stop at the Decision Point
The Leadership Layer
But structuring a PoC isn’t just a technical discipline; it’s a leadership one. When you design PoCs well, you’re not just proving feasibility; you’re shaping how your organization approaches uncertainty.
You show that it’s okay to test ideas before betting big.
You build a culture where learning is valued as much as delivery.
You reduce the energy required for others to imagine the future, because you’ve made it visible.
That’s why, in the CTO Levels framework, the Concepts block sits at Level 0. It’s foundational. Without the ability to structure and communicate PoCs effectively, everything else (prototypes, MVPs, scaling) rests on shakier ground.
From Idea to Impact
The next time you’re handed a bold goal, resist the urge to jump straight into building. Instead, pause and ask:
What’s the hypothesis here?
How do we prove or disprove it quickly?
And how will we make the outcome visible to others?
That’s the difference between an idea that lingers in uncertainty and an idea that creates impact.
Because the true power of a PoC isn’t in what you build; it’s in the clarity you create.