What is the path, and what does each workshop do?
The path is the sequence of workshops that takes you from a rough idea to a validated business. The workshops are grouped into paths, done in order, and each workshop is designed to be finished in one sitting. It is the first thing you see when you open Draper and it stays there, so you always know where you are and what comes next.
What a workshop is
A workshop is one working session with a defined output. You sit down, work through it with Draper, and come away with something finished rather than a reading list or a set of homework.
They run in order because each one depends on the last. The Idea Summary captures the idea, Test Demand checks whether anyone wants it, and everything after that builds on both. Working through them out of order would mean researching a business whose foundations have not been settled yet.
What the path is for
The end of the path is a business with real customers who are interested in the product, and a clear read on whether to keep building or to change direction.
That second part matters as much as the first. The path is built to give you an honest answer, and sometimes the honest answer is that this version of the idea does not hold up. Finding that out at the end of a few focused sessions is the point — it is far cheaper than finding it out after a year of building.
Where the path starts
The path starts with three free workshops. Founder Profile & Goal Setting works out what you want from a business, and the time, money and skills you have to put into it. The Idea Summary is a guided conversation that captures your idea, or helps you find one, and writes it up in one document. Test Demand then checks whether real people want it, using evidence of what they already say and buy online.
From there the path works through what a business needs before you spend real money on it: testing the idea from every side, defining the customer and the offer, setting up the business, getting the product made, the brand, and a landing page with ads, then a two-week demand test with real ads in front of real customers. Each workshop tells you what it covers, what it is for, and roughly how long it takes before you start it, and they unlock in order as you go.