AI Idea Validator.

Twelve questions that separate AI products that ship from AI demos that die. Run before you commit a quarter of engineering.

0 / 12 ANSWERED

Q1Problem clarity, is there a named workflow this replaces?

Yes, I can name the user and the daily workflowRoughly, I know the use case, not the workflowIt's a category, not a workflowStill hand-wavy

Q2How often does the user hit this pain?

Daily, it interrupts real workWeeklyMonthlyRarely / hypothetical

Q3Willingness to pay, proven by existing spend?

Users already pay competitors $100+/mo for adjacent toolsUsers pay something for the problem todayNo paid market yet, but high painNo evidence of spend on this

Q4Can you reach the data the model needs?

Yes, I own it or it's in a queryable APIMostly, some scraping or integration workScattered across systems and silosBehind a moat I don't control

Q5How much hallucination can the user tolerate?

High, output is a draft, user reviewsMedium, wrong outputs are annoying, not dangerousLow, errors damage trust quicklyZero, regulated, safety-critical

Q6Can you tell when the output is wrong without manual review?

Yes, clean automated eval signalPartially, need some samplingOnly with manual reviewNo reliable way to grade outputs

Q7Build path, what does v1 look like?

Thin wrapper on a hosted API + prompt engAPI + light fine-tuning on examplesFine-tune or distill a small modelPretrain or train-from-scratch

Q8Time-to-first-real-output (not a demo)?

Hours, wired tomorrowDaysWeeksMonths

Q9Distribution, do you have a wedge?

Yes, audience, channel, or integrationPartial, one warm channel to startCold start, but a known beachheadNo distribution thesis yet

Q10Defensibility, what stops a copy?

Proprietary data, workflow lock-in, or network effectsBrand + ICP focus + speedJust first-mover on a generic promptNothing, anyone with the same API can ship it

Q11Founder fit, do you (or your team) have the technical depth?

Yes, shipped AI features in production beforeStrong engineering, new to LLMsWill need a technical co-founder or contractorNo technical depth available

Q12Runway, how many months of cash can you spend on a slow ramp?

18+ months12 – 18 months6 – 12 monthsUnder 6 months

RESULT · YOUR VERDICT0/12

VERDICT

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WHAT THIS MEANS

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NOTES · WEEKLY