# The 37-Point Startup Validation Checklist

Every check I run before spending a dollar on an idea. Distilled from 4,500+ startup ideas tested on Preuve AI and watching which ones actually survive.

## 6 categories. 37 pass/fail checks.

Each check has clear criteria and an action step if you fail it. Work through them in order.

1. ### Problem Validation
   - 7 checks
   - Can you describe the problem without mentioning your solution?
   - Have you found 10+ people who have this problem today?
   - Are they paying to solve it (money, time, or workarounds)?
   - Is the problem frequent enough to sustain a business?
   - + 3 more in the full checklist

2. ### Market Demand
   - 6 checks
   - Google Trends shows stable or growing interest
   - Reddit/forums have active discussions about this pain
   - Search volume exists for solution-aware keywords
   - Adjacent markets are growing (not shrinking)
   - + 2 more in the full checklist

3. ### Competitor Landscape
   - 8 checks
   - You can name at least 3 direct competitors
   - You know their pricing, funding, and traction
   - You have a clear positioning gap they leave open
   - No well-funded competitor is building your exact thing
   - + 4 more in the full checklist

4. ### Unit Economics
   - 6 checks
   - Your price point matches willingness to pay
   - CAC payback period is under 6 months
   - Gross margins exceed 60% (software)
   - Revenue per customer justifies acquisition cost
   - + 2 more in the full checklist

5. ### Timing & Defensibility
   - 5 checks
   - A recent shift makes this possible or urgent now
   - You have an unfair advantage (domain, network, data)
   - The product gets harder to replicate over time
   - Switching costs increase with usage
   - + 1 more in the full checklist

6. ### Founder-Market Fit
   - 5 checks
   - You have direct experience with this problem
   - You can build v1 without external funding
   - You can reach first 10 customers through your network
   - You would use this product yourself
   - + 1 more in the full checklist

## Why I made this

I spent 5 years doing growth marketing for startups. The pattern was always the same: the founders who validated hard and early survived. The ones who skipped it built beautiful products for markets that didn't exist.

42% of startups fail because there's no market need. Not bad code. Not funding. Nobody wanted what they built. I watched it happen over and over - smart people burning 6 months and $50K+ before discovering the idea had a fatal blind spot on day one.

This checklist is every check I ran manually before I automated the process into Preuve AI. It covers the same angles - market demand, competitor pressure, unit economics, timing, and founder-market fit. The difference is the checklist takes 20 minutes. Preuve does it in 60 seconds with live data from 40+ sources.

Both will save you from building the wrong thing.