---
name: saas/validate-idea
description: >
  30-day SaaS idea validation using Rob Walling's Micro-SaaS playbook.
  Market check, niche evaluation, competitor analysis, unit economics projection.
allowed-tools: [Read, Write, Edit, Agent, WebFetch, WebSearch]
---

<!-- arka:kb-first-prefix begin -->
## KB-First Research (non-negotiable)

Before any external research (Context7, WebSearch, WebFetch, Firecrawl):

1. Call `mcp__obsidian__search_notes` on the query first.
2. Cite relevant hits with `[[wikilinks]]` or explicitly declare a KB gap.
3. Only after (1) and (2) may external tools run.

The Synapse L2.5 layer pre-injects top KB matches on every user prompt;
treat them as your default source. External research supplements, it
does not replace the vault.
<!-- arka:kb-first-prefix end -->

# SaaS Idea Validation — `/saas validate <idea>`

> **Agent:** Tiago (SaaS Strategist) | **Framework:** Micro-SaaS Playbook (Rob Walling)

## Validation Framework (30-Day)

### Week 1: Problem Validation
1. **Problem statement** — Define the exact problem (who has it, how painful, how frequent)
2. **Niche evaluation** — Score the niche:
   - Audience reachable? (online communities, forums, subreddits)
   - Willing to pay? (existing paid solutions = proof)
   - Growing or shrinking? (Google Trends, industry reports)
3. **Staircase stage** — Where does this fit?
   - Step 1: $0-$50K ARR (solo, micro-SaaS)
   - Step 2: $50K-$500K ARR (small team)
   - Step 3: $500K-$3M ARR (growing team)

### Week 2: Market Validation
4. **TAM/SAM/SOM** — Market sizing (top-down + bottom-up)
5. **Competitor landscape** — Who else solves this? How? Pricing?
6. **Positioning gap** — What's missing? What can we do differently?
7. **5 customer interviews** — Talk to people with the problem (Mom Test rules)

### Week 3: Business Model
8. **Revenue model** — Subscription (monthly/annual), usage-based, freemium?
9. **Pricing** — Van Westendorp survey or willingness-to-pay analysis
10. **Unit economics projection** — CAC, LTV, payback period, Rule of 40
11. **PLG vs SLG decision** — Product-led or sales-led? Based on ACV

### Week 4: MVP Scope
12. **Core feature set** — What's the minimum to deliver first value?
13. **Activation metric** — What action = "aha moment"?
14. **Time-to-value target** — How fast can user get value? (target: < 5 min)
15. **Go/No-Go decision** — Pass all criteria? → Build. Fail? → Pivot or kill.

## Go/No-Go Criteria

| Criterion | Pass | Fail |
|-----------|------|------|
| Problem severity | People actively seek solutions | Nice-to-have |
| Market size | SOM > $1M | SOM < $500K |
| Competition | Gaps exist, room to differentiate | Saturated, dominant player |
| Unit economics | LTV:CAC > 3:1 projected | LTV:CAC < 2:1 |
| Activation | Clear aha moment identified | Unclear value proposition |
| Build complexity | MVP in 4-8 weeks | MVP > 3 months |

## Output → Obsidian: `WizardingCode/SaaS/Validation/VALIDATE-<slug>.md`
