Validate a SaaS idea
How to validate SaaS ideas before you build them
To validate SaaS ideas, answer the six questions founders ask before they build: will they pay, is it big enough, is it crowded, where do I find them, how do I test it first, and what could kill it. Answer them from what buyers already say and do, then run a two-week test that asks for money. Here is how, shown on a real idea.
No account needed. 4 ideas open in full.
The six questions, and where to find each answer
Will they pay?
Count the people who already pay for a workaround, or say they would, not the ones who like the idea. Then look at the rivals: one that has advertised on Google for years has buyers who are worth more than the clicks.
Praise is not a payment.
Is it big enough?
Count the different people who describe the problem in their own words, and how often it hits them: at least weekly beats once a year. Buyers times your price gives a first revenue line.
One loud thread is not a market.
Is it crowded?
List the tools they use today and what each one misses. Your angle is that gap, said in one sentence.
“No competitors” usually means no buyers.
Where do I find them?
Find the communities where they talk about the problem. Your first ten customers come from there, not from Google.
A launch post that reads like an ad gets removed.
How do I test it first?
Write a two-week test and its pass line before you start: who you ask, what you offer, how many must pay. Sell it by hand before you build it.
A sign-up is not a sale.
What could kill it?
Name the biggest risk and the objections a skeptic would raise, then test the riskiest one first.
The risk you skip is the one that ends it.
A real idea, question by question
One of the ideas open in full, answered from its own research.
- Will they pay?
- 82 of the 1.8K people who describe it pay or would pay for a fix. Macabacus has advertised on Google for 14 years.
- Is it big enough?
- 1.8K people describe it in their own words, and 70% of them hit it at least weekly.
- Is it crowded?
- What they use today: Microsoft 365 Copilot Agent Mode; Claude for Excel and PowerPoint; Claude Skills and Cowork scheduled tasks. The angle: For consultants and small agencies: upload last month's pack plus new exports; an agent writes a checkable script that reruns monthly and flags changed columns.
- Where do I find them?
- r/excel, r/PowerBI and r/analytics: 369 of the 1.6K posts and comments about it.
- How do I test it first?
- Message 100 consultants and small agencies; hand-build 10 packs from last month's pack plus new exports. It passes if: 3 prepay $99, and 8 of 10 packs need zero number fixes.
- What could kill it?
- Claude and Copilot already update decks in the client's template for about $20; only the checked monthly rerun is unique.
Write the pass line before the test
A test passes on money or a firm commitment, decided before it starts. The tests of three more ideas open in full:
- Lead Quality Grader for Meta Ads AgenciesThe test
Free 90-day Meta lead audit from an anonymized CSV (no names or phones), posted in r/FacebookAds and r/marketingagency.
It passes if25 agencies upload, 5 prepay $149, grades match outcomes 80%.
- Missed Callback Checker for Home Service Ad AgenciesThe test
Offer 60 CallRail-using home-service ad agencies a free manual 90-day callback audit.
It passes if8 accept, 3 pre-pay $149, under 20% of flags wrong.
- AI Search Visibility Audit for SEO AgenciesThe test
Sell a $149 one-off proof pack (10 runs per prompt, ranges, captures) to 60 agency owners by direct message.
It passes if3 pay within 14 days.
Start from an idea that already has its answers
Every one of the 100 ideas answers the six questions from what people wrote, with its own two-week test, and says plainly when an idea is not worth building.
No account needed. 4 ideas open in full.
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