First Principles Tool

Start from the goal, identify first principles and testable assumptions, then derive a conclusion.

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First Principles Worksheet

Start from the goal, identify first principles and testable assumptions, derive a conclusion.

Quick Guide

  • Clarify the goal and constraints before decomposition.
  • Separate first principles from falsifiable assumptions.
  • Design verification for each assumption (experiment/sampling/audit).
  • Reason bottom-up without skipping steps; capture key intermediates.
  • Converge to a conclusion and outline next actions.

Extended Strategies

Identify and Codify First Principles

Codify stable truths into a reusable principles list for similar problems.

Build Executable Validation Plans

Assign practical verification methods and thresholds to each assumption.

Bottom-up Derivation Discipline

Maintain narrative chains: premise → reasoning → intermediate results; avoid jumps.

Common Pitfalls

Treating authority/experience as principles; using untested assumptions; ignoring constraints.

Related Models

First Principles

Break free from analogies and heuristics; derive solutions from fundamental truths and testable assumptions.

Featured Templates

EV Cost Rebuild

Break down EV cost levers through energy density and scaling principles to support structured cost-reduction strategy.

Materials & Structure Framework
  • Material vs. structure trade-offs
  • Validation cadence: pilot → scale
  • Falsify high-cost variables first

Quick Site Building

Operations-focused template that helps marketing teams make rapid site-building decisions within clear constraints.

Constraint Decomposition Framework
  • Complexity vs. delivery speed
  • Explicit constraint listing
  • Validate the “minimum viable” option

A/B Test Strategy

Data team oriented breakdown that highlights hypothesis testing and power analysis essentials.

Experiment Design Framework
  • Power analysis references
  • Confounder controls
  • Stop criteria

ML Modeling from First Principles

Emphasizes deriving model structure from target metrics for ML and data teams.

Objective → Constraints → Model structure
  • Loss function design
  • Regularization vs. generalization error
  • Experiment logging template

Philosophical Roots & Formula Derivation

Education-focused template summarising philosophical origins and formula derivations.

Proposition-Logic-Formula sequence
  • Aristotle’s four causes
  • Derivations from Galileo to Newton
  • Mapping formulas to business/product contexts

Practice (Case Exercises)

Review featured breakdowns and load the template that fits your scenario into the worksheet above. Click “Expand” to begin.

First Principles Tool – Break Assumptions & Build Testable Conclusions | Zen of Thinking