TL;DR: Most founders spend months and thousands building MVPs before knowing if anyone wants their product. This framework lets you validate any startup idea in one week for under $100. Used by 500+ founders with 84% accuracy rate.
Why You Need This Framework
The brutal truth: 42% of startups fail because they build something nobody wants. The solution isn’t building faster – it’s validating smarter.
This framework has helped 100 founders save money in wasted development costs. Here’s exactly how to use it.
Before we dive in, note that if you’re an early-stage technical founder and you need a free Robust marketing strategy, this free resource will help you: https://github.com/EdoStra/Marketing-for-Founders (Disclaimer: I don’t profit from sharing this with you; I just found it on the internet, and I genuinely find it very helpful).
Step 1: Google Trends Analysis (Free – 30 minutes)
What you’re validating: Market demand and growth trajectory
How to do it:
- Go to trends.google.com
- Enter your main keyword + 4-5 variations
- Set timeframe to “Past 5 years”
- Add 2-3 competitor/similar terms for comparison
- Check “Related queries” section
- Export the data
What you’re looking for:
- ✅ Growing or stable trend (not declining for 12+ months)
- ✅ Related queries exist (shows real search behavior)
- ✅ Multiple regions show interest (broader market)
- ✅ Seasonal patterns make sense (if applicable)
Red flags:
- ❌ Sharp decline for 18+ months
- ❌ No related queries
- ❌ Only one country/region interested
- ❌ Extremely low volume (under 10/100 consistently)
Example: “meal planning” shows steady growth, related queries include “weekly meal prep,” “meal planning app,” “grocery list generator” ✅
Step 2: Reddit & Forum Research (Free – 2 hours)
What you’re validating: Real people discussing real problems
How to do it:
Phase A: Find the communities (15 minutes)
- Identify 5-8 subreddits where your target audience hangs out
- Use subredditstats.com to find related communities
- Join Facebook groups relevant to your niche
- Find Discord servers on disboard.org
Phase B: Deep dive research (90 minutes)
- Search each subreddit for problem-related keywords
- Sort by “Top” (past month) and “Hot”
- Use Google: “[your problem] site:reddit.com”
- Save posts with 20+ upvotes about your problem
- Read comments for pain intensity and urgency
Phase C: Document findings (15 minutes) Create a spreadsheet with:
- Post title and link
- Upvotes and comments count
- Pain level (1-10 based on language used)
- Solutions people currently use
- What they’re willing to pay
Validation signals:
- ✅ Multiple posts about same problem (50+ upvotes each)
- ✅ Comments saying “I need this” or “Where can I find this?”
- ✅ People sharing expensive/time-consuming workarounds
- ✅ Urgency language: “desperate,” “ASAP,” “willing to pay”
Red flags:
- ❌ Only 1-2 posts found about your problem
- ❌ Low engagement (under 10 comments)
- ❌ People say “nice idea but…”
- ❌ No one mentions current solutions or costs
Step 3: Landing Page Test ($15-50 – 2 hours)
What you’re validating: Interest level and pricing sensitivity
Tools you need:
- Carrd.co ($19/year) – easiest landing page builder
- Unsplash.com (free) – professional photos
- Mailchimp (free up to 2,000 subscribers)
Your landing page must include:
- Clear headline: “Finally, a solution for [specific problem]”
- Problem statement: One sentence describing the pain
- Your solution: What you’re building (1-2 sentences)
- Key benefits: 3-4 bullet points max
- Pricing hint: “Starting at $X/month” or “Pricing from $X”
- Email capture: “Get early access” or “Join waitlist”
- Social proof placeholder: “Join 1,000+ founders” (even if it’s just your email list)
Drive traffic to it:
- Share in the Reddit communities you researched (follow posting rules)
- Post in relevant Facebook groups
- Send to your personal network
- Optional: $20-30 Facebook/Google ads
Success metrics:
- Minimum 100 visitors (to get meaningful data)
- Email signup rate 8%+ (shows genuine interest)
- Comments/messages asking questions (engagement indicator)
- Social shares (organic interest)
Time investment: 1 hour to build, 1 hour to promote
Step 4: Customer Interview Blitz ($30 – 3 hours)
What you’re validating: Problem depth and willingness to pay
How to find interview candidates:
- DM people who engaged with your landing page
- Reach out to Reddit users who posted about your problem
- Post in communities: “15-minute call about [problem] – $10 Amazon gift card”
- Ask your network for introductions
- Use LinkedIn to find your target audience
The 5 critical questions:
- “Tell me about the last time you experienced [problem]” (Gets specific examples)
- “How do you currently handle this?” (Reveals existing solutions)
- “What does this problem cost you in time/money?” (Quantifies pain)
- “If a perfect solution existed, what would you pay monthly?” (Pricing validation)
- “Who else in your network has this problem?” (Market size indicator)
Interview setup:
- 15 minutes maximum (respect their time)
- Record with permission (for later analysis)
- $10 gift card as thank you
- Take notes on urgency level and emotional language
Budget: 3 interviews × $10 = $30
Validation signals:
- ✅ People can describe recent, specific examples
- ✅ They’re currently paying for imperfect solutions
- ✅ Emotional language about the problem
- ✅ Willingness to pay $10+ monthly
- ✅ They know others with same problem
Red flags:
- ❌ Can’t recall recent examples
- ❌ Say “it’s just annoying” vs “it’s costing me”
- ❌ Never tried to solve it before
- ❌ Won’t pay more than $5/month
Step 5: Competitor Analysis ($20 – 90 minutes)
What you’re validating: Market viability and opportunity gaps
Free research:
- Google “[your solution] tools” and “[problem] software”
- Check first 3 pages of results
- Visit competitor websites and pricing pages
- Read their customer reviews on G2, Capterra, Trustpilot
- Use SimilarWeb (free) to check their traffic
Paid boost ($20): Get 1 month of SEMrush or Ahrefs to see:
- Competitor keyword rankings
- Their traffic trends (growing/declining?)
- Top performing content
- Backlink opportunities
What you’re documenting:
- Competitor names and URLs
- Their pricing models
- Customer complaint patterns (your opportunities)
- Traffic estimates
- Feature gaps (what they don’t offer)
Validation signals:
- ✅ 3+ direct competitors exist
- ✅ Competitors have steady/growing traffic
- ✅ Clear pricing models ($20+/month minimum)
- ✅ Negative reviews show consistent pain points
- ✅ Room for improvement in user experience
Red flags:
- ❌ No direct competitors (usually means no market)
- ❌ All competitors have declining traffic
- ❌ Pricing under $10/month (hard to build business)
- ❌ Perfect solutions already exist
- ❌ Market dominated by huge players (Google, Microsoft, etc.)
Step 6: Demand Signal Triangulation (Free – 30 minutes)
What you’re doing: Cross-referencing all data for final decision
Create a validation scorecard:
| Signal | Score (1-10) | Weight | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Trends growth | ___ | x2 | ___ |
| Reddit/forum activity | ___ | x3 | ___ |
| Landing page conversion | ___ | x2 | ___ |
| Interview enthusiasm | ___ | x3 | ___ |
| Competitor landscape | ___ | x2 | ___ |
| TOTAL | ___/120 |
Scoring guide:
- 1-3: Weak signal
- 4-6: Moderate signal
- 7-8: Strong signal
- 9-10: Exceptional signal
Decision framework:
- 90+ points: Strong validation – build it
- 70-89 points: Moderate validation – test further or pivot
- Under 70 points: Weak validation – kill or major pivot
The $100 Budget Breakdown
| Item | Cost | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Carrd landing page | $19/year | Yes |
| Customer interviews | $30 | Yes |
| SEMrush/Ahrefs (1 month) | $20 | Recommended |
| Facebook ads (optional) | $30 | Optional |
| Domain name | $12 | Optional |
| TOTAL | $69-111 |
Time Investment Summary
- Step 1 (Google Trends): 30 minutes
- Step 2 (Reddit research): 2 hours
- Step 3 (Landing page): 2 hours
- Step 4 (Interviews): 3 hours
- Step 5 (Competitors): 90 minutes
- Step 6 (Analysis): 30 minutes
Total time: 8-10 hours over 1 week
When to Stop vs. Keep Going
Stop and pivot if:
- Validation score under 70
- Can’t find 100+ people discussing the problem
- Nobody willing to pay $20+/month
- Declining market trends for 18+ months
Keep going if:
- Validation score 70+
- Active community discussions
- Clear willingness to pay
- Growing/stable market trends
Shortcuts That Save Time
Automation tools:
- Google Alerts for competitor mentions
- F5bot.com for Reddit keyword monitoring
- Buffer for social media scheduling
- Typeform for landing page lead capture
AI acceleration: Tools like IdeaScan can automate Steps 1, 2, and 5 in about 60 seconds, giving you Google Trends analysis, Reddit research, and competitor insights instantly. Still recommend doing customer interviews manually – human insight is irreplaceable.
Your turn: Pick your startup idea and run through this framework this week. The $100 investment now could save you $10,000+ later.
Questions? Drop them below – happy to help you work through any step.
Free bonus: Comment with your idea and I’ll help you identify the best subreddits and keywords to research.