How much is it?
The Cost criterion examines whether your product can be manufactured, delivered, and sold at a price that is sustainable for the business and acceptable to the target market.
Cost covers the full economics of the product: bill of materials, tooling and manufacture, logistics, overheads, and the margin required for the business to be viable. A strong answer demonstrates that the cost to produce is comfortably below the price the market will pay, and that the unit economics hold at realistic volume. A weak answer relies on unvalidated assumptions about material costs, high-volume efficiencies that have not yet been achieved, or a price point that customers have not confirmed they will accept.
Cost is often the criterion that makes or breaks an otherwise strong concept. Evaluating it early, and honestly, prevents founders from falling in love with a product that cannot be made profitable at any realistic scale.
