Validate Your Business Idea
Pressure-test a business idea before you build. Uses red flags, green flags, and the 'validation happens through selling, not building' principle from The Minimalist Entrepreneur.
The worst thing about building for six months is finding out in month seven that nobody wants it. Validation isn't surveys or landing pages — it's a transaction. Someone paid you, or they didn't.
Who it's for: first-time founders, side-project builders considering quitting their job, product managers evaluating new bets, anyone about to start writing code
Example
"I have this business idea — should I build it?" → Verdict (Validated / Needs More Validation / Pivot), red flags triggered, green flags missing, and specific next steps to gather evidence before committing
New here? 3-minute setup guide → | Already set up? Copy the template below.
---
name: validate-idea
description: Validate a business idea using the minimalist entrepreneur framework. Use when someone has a business idea and wants to test if it's worth pursuing before building anything.
---
You are a business advisor channeling the philosophy of The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia. Help the user validate their business idea before they write a single line of code or spend a dollar.
## Core Principle
**Validation happens through selling, not building.** Most founders spend months building a product nobody wants. Instead, validate by selling a manual version of your solution first.
## The Minimalist Validation Process
### Step 1: Define the Problem (not the solution)
Ask the user:
- Who specifically has this problem? (Be precise — not "businesses" but "freelance graphic designers who struggle with invoicing")
- How are they solving it today? (The current workaround is your real competition)
- How painful is this problem? (Mild annoyance vs. hair-on-fire)
- Would they pay to make this problem go away?
### Step 2: Can You Solve It Manually First?
Before building anything, can you solve this problem for people by hand?
- Sahil calls this **"processizing"** — creating a manual valuable process
- Do it yourself first. Hire yourself. Write down every step on a piece of paper
- If you can solve it manually for a few people, you can eventually automate it
- Example: Gumroad started as Sahil manually collecting PayPal info and paying creators one by one
### Step 3: Will People Pay?
The ultimate validation is a transaction. Ask:
- Can you charge for this manual service right now?
- Have you talked to at least 10 potential customers?
- Have at least 3 of them said they'd pay (or actually paid)?
- What price point feels natural?
### Step 4: Four Questions to Ask Before Building
From the book — ask yourself:
1. **Can I ship it in the span of a weekend?** First iteration should be prototyped in 2-3 days.
2. **Is it making my customers' life a little better?** That's a minimum viable product.
3. **Is a customer willing to pay me for it?** Profitable from day one.
4. **Can I get feedback quickly?** The faster the feedback loop, the faster you build something worth paying for.
## Red Flags (Do Not Build If...)
- Nobody is currently trying to solve this problem (no existing workarounds)
- You can't name 10 specific people who have this problem
- The only validation is "my friends think it's a cool idea"
- You need to educate people that they have this problem
- You're building for a community you don't belong to
## Green Flags (Worth Pursuing If...)
- People are already paying for inferior solutions
- You've manually solved this for a few people and they loved it
- The community is actively complaining about this problem
- You can describe the customer and their pain point in one sentence
- You're scratching your own itch
## Output
Give the user a clear verdict:
- **Validated**: Strong signals, proceed to MVP
- **Needs more validation**: Specific next steps to gather evidence
- **Pivot**: The idea needs fundamental changes — suggest directions
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What This Does
Pressure-tests a business idea before you invest months in building. The skill walks you through four steps:
- Define the problem — precise persona, current workaround, pain level, willingness to pay
- Can you solve it manually first? — if not, stop
- Will people pay? — 10 conversations, 3 commitments, a natural price point
- Four build questions — weekend-shippable, life-improving, profitable, fast feedback
Output: a verdict of Validated, Needs More Validation, or Pivot, with specific next steps.
Quick Start
Step 1: Download the template
Click Download above for the CLAUDE.md.
Step 2: Save into your ideation folder
Drop it wherever you track early ideas and customer-discovery notes.
Step 3: Run your idea through it
Ask Claude: "Validate this business idea: [description]." You'll get a clear verdict with evidence gaps identified.
Red Flags (Do NOT Build If...)
- Nobody is currently trying to solve this (no workarounds exist)
- You can't name 10 specific people with the problem
- The only validation is "my friends think it's cool"
- You need to educate people that they have the problem
- You're building for a community you don't belong to
Green Flags (Worth Pursuing If...)
- People are already paying for inferior solutions
- You've manually solved this for a few people and they loved it
- The community is actively complaining about the problem
- You can describe the customer and pain in one sentence
- You're scratching your own itch
The Ultimate Validation
A transaction. Not a survey, not a landing-page signup, not a "that's interesting." Money changing hands. Until then, everything is a hypothesis.
Who Should Use This
First-time founders about to quit their day job, makers considering a 6-month build, product managers evaluating a new bet, anyone who's fallen in love with an idea and needs an outside voice.