How to validate a SaaS idea in 14 days

Days 1 to 4: find and interview

List five places the audience already gathers: a subreddit, a Slack or Discord, an industry newsletter, a trade association, a directory. Reach ten people and ask about the last time the problem happened.

Good questions: what did you do, how long did it take, what did it cost, what did you try before. Bad question: would you pay for this.

Days 5 to 8: build the offer, not the product

Write a one page description with a headline, three outcomes, a price and a call to action. Put it online. This page is the product for now.

Send it to the ten people you interviewed and ask what is missing or wrong. Their edits are your roadmap.

Days 9 to 12: get a commitment

Ask for something that costs the other person: a pre payment, a paid pilot, a scheduled onboarding call, or an introduction to their team lead.

Two commitments out of ten conversations is a strong signal. Zero after twenty conversations is also a signal, and a cheap one.

Days 13 to 14: decide

• Go

  At least two paid or scheduled commitments, and a repeatable place to find more of the same people.

• Pivot the audience

  The pain is real but the group is unreachable or unfunded. Keep the problem, change who you sell to.

• Stop

  People recognise the problem but work around it happily. Recognition without workaround cost is not a business.

FAQ

Do landing page signups count as validation?

They validate the message, not the demand. Treat them as an input to interviews rather than proof.

How many interviews are enough?

Ten to fifteen for a first read. Stop earlier only when answers repeat with no new information.