Idea Validation

Overview

Kill bad ideas fast, confirm good ones cheaply. Walk through every phase in order. Each phase has a kill-check — if the idea fails, document why and stop before wasting further time.

Phase 1: Problem Definition

Everything starts here. A vague problem = a vague business.

Answer these four questions precisely:

1. Who — The exact person. Not "small businesses." Something like "freelance graphic designers juggling 3-8 client projects at once."
2. What — The specific painful moment. "They spend 4+ hours/week manually exporting deliverables and coordinating revision feedback via email chains."
3. Why it hurts — The real cost: time lost, revenue lost, stress, missed deadlines, damaged relationships. Quantify where possible.
4. What they do now — Their current workaround. This IS your real competition — not just competitor apps, but the status quo itself.

Kill check: Cannot answer all four concretely → problem is not well-defined. Do more discovery first.