Direct answers to the questions founders actually ask

Run six honest tests. (1) Is there a defined buyer with budget? (2) Is the pain frequent and intense, not annoying? (3) Will buyers commit money or time? (4) Do you have a defensible angle (one of the 7 Powers)? (5) Does the unit economics math work at a price they'd pay? (6) Is the timing present-tense, not 'someday'? Pass four of six and keep going. Fail four and walk away. The rest is theatre.

Run the 9-step pre-code playbook with three SaaS-specific tweaks. (1) Validate the pricing MODEL before the price NUMBER; the model is hard to change post-launch. (2) Apply the LTV/CAC > 3 unit-economics gate. (3) Use the Superhuman PMF Engine post-launch as your canonical PMF measure. Otherwise: defined buyer, real pain, defensible angle, behavioral evidence, defended price, scoped V1.

Two to four weeks of focused work for a single idea. Stage 1 (market verdict) takes a day. Stages 2-3 (buyer + pain) take a week of interviews. Stage 4 (positioning) takes two days. Stage 5 (V1 scope) takes a day. Stages 6-7 (pricing + behavioral evidence) take 1-2 weeks because you need 20+ buyers and a Fake Door Test running. ShipFit compresses the decision time to 30-60 minutes; the gating work is the human conversations between stages.

Use Rahul Vohra's Superhuman PMF Engine. (1) Survey active users with the Sean Ellis question 'how would you feel if you could no longer use this?'. (2) Segment respondents by 'very disappointed' / 'somewhat disappointed' / 'not disappointed'. (3) Profile your fans (the very disappointed) to find your real ICP. (4) Build a roadmap that's half doubling-down on what fans love and half closing the on-the-fence blockers. (5) Re-run quarterly. The score should rise.

Apply Rob Fitzpatrick's Mom Test discipline. Never mention your idea (it contaminates the conversation). Ask about specific past behavior, not future hypotheticals ('what did you do last time' beats 'would you use this'). Listen 80% of the time. Look for commitments (time, money, reputation), not compliments. Run 10-15 interviews per buyer segment; patterns stabilize around interview 10. Below that you have anecdotes, not signal.

Narrow in four passes. (1) Start with the broad category your idea sits in. (2) Filter by buyer behavior: who currently has this problem and is doing something about it? (3) Filter by reach: who can you actually contact via the channels you have today? (4) Filter by willingness to pay: who has budget authority and a price point that clears your unit economics? The output is a specific buyer profile you could name 10 people who match. If you can't, you haven't narrowed enough.

Use the Jobs-to-be-Done switch format: 'When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome].' Drawn from real buyer interviews, not your hypotheses. The statement should make a specific person feel a specific moment. Pass four tests: it names a real situation, the buyer can identify the moment, the outcome is measurable, and at least 3 unrelated buyers describe the same problem in similar words.

The first phase of Steve Blank's Customer Development methodology (2005). The work of finding out whether the problem you think exists actually exists, for the buyer you think has it. It precedes customer validation (proving the buyer will pay). Customer discovery uses interviews and observation; customer validation uses behavioral evidence (pre-orders, signed LOIs, paid pilots). Both are required before scaling.

Three honest tiers. DIY: $0-200 in books + 60-100 hours of your time over 6-10 weeks. ShipFit: $5 for a Quick Take, $10 for a full playbook, $19-99/mo subscription. Strategy consultant: $5,000-25,000 for a 4-8 week engagement. Hidden cost across all three: ~$50-200 for buyer-interview coffee. The number to compare against: the $20K-80K it costs to skip validation and ship the wrong thing.

Five honest questions. (1) Are you ok losing 12-24 months of income? (2) Do you have a specific problem you keep coming back to, or is the appeal generic? (3) Can you handle being wrong publicly for 6+ months? (4) Do you have one validated idea (not just enthusiasm)? (5) Are you doing this because you want to OR because you think you should? Yes to 4-5: probably worth starting. Yes to 0-2: not yet, and that's fine. Most successful founders said yes to all five before quitting.