In the Age of AI, More People Build Products Nobody Wants.

TL;DR: I’ve been exploring how AI could streamline the idea validation workflow for solo founders, and I’m launching a beta to test it out. If you’re a builder who’s tired of guessing, you can try it at validatefirst.ai.

AI has made it easier than ever to build a product. Agentic tools, code generation, no-code platforms. The barrier to shipping something has never been lower, and more people are becoming product builders because of it.

But the barrier to building something people actually want to pay for? That hasn’t changed at all.

By validation I mean two things: product-market fit (does this solve a problem people will pay for?) and distribution (can I actually reach them?). Both have to be true, or the product fails.

As AI lowers the building barrier further, the pattern is getting worse: talented builders shipping products nobody asked for, skipping validation, and wondering why nobody signs up.

A Simple Validation Framework

You can test many ideas without writing a single line of code.

Over time, I boiled it down to four steps:

Step 1: Problem-Solution Fit

• Start with a one-page business canvas: map out your problem, solution, target customer, and unique value proposition
• This forces you to articulate your assumptions before testing them. If you can’t clearly describe the problem and who has it, you’re not ready to validate anything
• Think lean canvas, but leaner

Step 2: Deep Research

• Research the market: who are the competitors, what gaps exist, and how big is the opportunity?
• Build a picture of the landscape before you test your own idea against it

Step 3: Signals

• Look for demand signals: Are people actively complaining about this problem? Willing to pay for alternatives? Is the trend growing or declining?
• Assess your differentiation: do you have a real advantage over what already exists?
• If there’s no evidence of demand and nothing that sets you apart from existing solutions, it’s probably not worth pursuing

Step 4: Validate

• Create landing pages with different calls to action (waitlist, purchase, book a demo) to test varying levels of commitment
• Drive targeted visitors through daily growth actions (community posts, cold outreach, social media) or paid marketing if budget allows, and measure conversion rates
• Talk to real potential users — learn about their needs, frustrations, and willingness to pay without leading them toward the answer you want to hear

No code. Just asking the market before you build.

”Just Ship an MVP” / “Just Copy a Working Business”

With AI and modern tools, you can build an MVP fast — why bother validating? And if you’re copying a proven idea, someone else already validated it, right? But validation isn’t only about the product. It’s also about distribution. Can you reach the right customers? A proven product with no way to get it into people’s hands is still a failed project. A few days of validation upfront can save weeks of building something nobody wants.

What’s Coming Next

What if the most tedious parts of validation could be automated? What if you could get the equivalent of a week of market research in an afternoon? I’m still experimenting, and I hope you’ll tag along.

If you’re tired of guessing, try the beta at validatefirst.ai.