A research professional launched a course based on personal passion without proper market validation. This shows how emotional investment can cause experts to ignore the very best practices they preach, especially when the project is their own.
The speaker's ill-researched travel course was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This external shock, while devastating, saved her from a likely business failure, acting as a brutal but effective form of market invalidation that she was too invested to see.
The founder secured a front-page feature in The Times for her new course, a massive PR win. However, this success masked a fatal flaw: the product lacked market validation. This proves that high-profile PR can create a dangerous illusion of viability.