Market Validation

Validate before code. AI-assisted development lowers build cost so much that the temptation to skip validation is higher than ever.

5-question framework

1. Who SPECIFICALLY has this problem? (named persona)
2. How are they solving it today? (if 'nothing', probably no real problem)
3. How much does the current solution cost in time/money/frustration?
4. Will they pre-pay for the better solution? (pre-orders are the only validation that counts)
5. Can you reach them cheaply? (if you can't acquire for <$5, unit economics will kill you)

Validation stack (4-week sequence)

Week 1 — Conversations: 10 user interviews via interview-users. Find them in IndieHackers + niche subreddits.

Week 2 — Waitlist: one-page landing in 2 hours (Carrd / Framer / HTML). One value prop, email capture, screenshot/mockup.

Week 3-8 — Distribution: