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Founder Guides

Evergreen reference for the questions founders keep coming back to. Validation, customer discovery, decision frameworks. No fluff, no chronology — just the parts that matter.

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15 guides
Validation6 min read

Is My Business Idea Good?

Nine questions that decide whether an idea is worth building — with what counts as an answer and what does not.

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Validation7 min read

A Validation Prompt That Argues Back

Copy-paste prompts that make ChatGPT or Claude challenge your idea instead of praising it — plus three checks that show where a prompt stops.

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Validation2 min + guide read

Free Startup Idea Validator

Nine questions, a score out of 100 and the first thing to go find out, running in your browser with no signup. Plus the buyer's guide to the paid tools.

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Validation12 min read

How to Validate a Business Idea

Five methods compared by what each can actually prove, the three questions any validation has to answer, and the mistakes that cost founders a year.

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Validation8 min read

The Validation Tools Compared

ValidatorAI, IdeaProof, Preuve, DimeADozen and us on seven axes: how the idea gets in, what checks the output, how the verdict forms, and where we lose.

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Customer Research7 min read

Synthetic Focus Groups

What an AI panel can and cannot tell you, and the four checks that separate a calibrated one from a merely confident one.

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Customer Research10 min read

The Mom Test: A Founder's Practical Guide

Rob Fitzpatrick's book in 10 minutes — the 3 rules, what good questions look like, the compliments to ignore, and how to practice.

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Customer Research12 min read

Customer Discovery: The Founder's Guide

Steve Blank's framework for figuring out whether your idea will work — before you build it. The 4 phases, the 5 steps, common mistakes.

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Decision Frameworks11 min read

Go/No-Go Decision Framework

The 7 criteria, the meeting structure, the common mistakes, and how to apply Go/No-Go to startup launches and pivot decisions.

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Market Research11 min read

TAM, SAM, SOM: Market Sizing Explained

How to size your market without making numbers up. Real examples, common mistakes, and a free interactive calculator.

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Customer Research13 min read

Customer Interview Playbook: 30 Questions

How to recruit, run, and synthesize customer interviews. 30 tested questions organized by intent, plus the 5 that always lie.

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Customer Research13 min read

Voice of Customer: A Practical Guide

VoC for founders and small teams. The 4-layer framework, 8 data sources, the metrics that matter, and a 90-day quick-start.

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Customer Research12 min read

Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) Framework

Christensen's framework for why customers buy. The milkshake story, the 4 forces of switch, and the switch-interview format.

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Customer Research13 min read

User Interview: A Methodology Guide

How to plan, recruit, run, and synthesize user interviews. The 5 types, the 60-min structure, recruiting channels, and tools.

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Validation13 min read

Lean Canvas: A Founder's Guide

Ash Maurya's 9-box template for early-stage hypotheses. Lean Canvas vs BMC, fill order, worked example, Build-Measure-Learn.

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Looking for shorter reads?

Try the blog

Opinions, deep dives, and what we learn building GoNoGo. Updated regularly, posts are dated, and we link back to these guides where relevant.

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