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Notes on building the right thing
Customer discovery, hypothesis-driven research, and honest verdicts, for solo founders who don't have a research team to turn to.
Hypotheses · October 8, 2026 · 13 min read
Startup hypothesis examples: what to test, and what a good hypothesis looks like
Good and bad startup hypothesis examples across problem, customer, behavior, pricing, solution fit, market, and channel, plus how to validate or kill each one.
Idea validation · September 9, 2026 · 4 min read
The solo founder's idea validation checklist
A step-by-step idea validation checklist for solo founders, from writing hypotheses to reading a verdict, built to run in about three weeks without a research team.
Tools & AI · September 2, 2026 · 4 min read
The best startup idea validation tools, honestly compared
An honest comparison of startup idea validation tools by category (fast AI verdicts, opportunity libraries, real customer research) and which job each one does well.
Customer interviews · August 26, 2026 · 4 min read
How many customer interviews do you need before building?
A straight answer on how many customer interviews you need to validate a startup idea, why the number is smaller than you think, and what determines it.
Surveys & pricing · August 19, 2026 · 3 min read
Willingness to pay: survey questions that predict real spend
How to measure willingness to pay with survey questions anchored on real behavior. Van Westendorp, Gabor-Granger, and the past-purchase questions that matter more than both.
Surveys & pricing · August 12, 2026 · 4 min read
Idea validation survey questions that don't just collect yeses
How to write idea validation survey questions that measure real behavior and demand instead of politeness, with a question bank and a scoring approach.
Customer interviews · August 5, 2026 · 4 min read
30 customer discovery interview questions that actually test something
Customer discovery interview questions grouped by what they test (problem, workaround, willingness to pay, and behavior), plus the questions you should never ask.
Tools & AI · July 10, 2026 · 4 min read
Why an AI can't validate your startup idea by itself
AI-only idea validators feel fast and confident, but nobody on the other end is a customer. What an AI startup idea validator can and can't tell you.
Hypotheses · June 28, 2026 · 4 min read
How to write a startup hypothesis: turn a fuzzy idea into testable hypotheses
A startup hypothesis you can't fail can't teach you anything. How to write a testable, falsifiable hypothesis, with a reusable template and examples.
Idea validation · June 20, 2026 · 4 min read
When to kill a startup idea (and why that's a win)
Knowing when to kill a startup idea, in three weeks instead of six months, is the reason to do research before you build. The signals to watch for.
Customer interviews · June 12, 2026 · 4 min read
Applying the Mom Test when you don't have a research team
The Mom Test's core rule (ask about their life, not your idea) is simple to state and hard to run alone. The questions and rewrites that make it work.
Idea validation · June 2, 2026 · 6 min read
How to validate a startup idea before you build anything
A practical, no-code way to validate a startup idea. Test whether it solves a real problem for real customers before you write a line of product code.