Problem Statement
Describe the specific problem in 2-3 sentences. Who has it? How painful is it?
The problem:
Who experiences it: (Name specific people, roles, or communities — not "everyone")
How they currently solve it: (Manual process, spreadsheets, competitor product, duct-tape workaround)
Frequency: (Daily / weekly / monthly / one-time)
Pain severity: (Mild inconvenience / costly workaround / hair-on-fire emergency)
Evidence this problem exists: (Forum posts, Reddit threads, customer interviews, personal experience — link sources)
Target Customer
Describe 2-3 specific personas. These should be real people you could name, not abstract demographics.
Persona 1: [Name] — [Role]
- Job title:
- Company size / context:
- Daily frustration: (What they deal with every day related to this problem)
- Current workaround: (The specific tool or process they use today)
- What they've tried: (Other solutions they've evaluated and rejected)
- Budget for tools: ($0 / $10-50/mo / $50-200/mo / $200+/mo)
- Where they hang out online: (Subreddit, Slack community, Twitter/X, newsletter)
- How they'd find your product: (Search term, community recommendation, social post)
Persona 2: [Name] — [Role]
- Job title:
- Company size / context:
- Daily frustration:
- Current workaround:
- What they've tried:
- Budget for tools:
- Where they hang out online:
- How they'd find your product:
Persona 3: [Name] — [Role] (optional)
- Job title:
- Company size / context:
- Daily frustration:
- Current workaround:
- What they've tried:
- Budget for tools:
- Where they hang out online:
- How they'd find your product:
Market Landscape
List 3-5 competitors or alternatives. If you can't find any, either the market doesn't exist or you haven't looked hard enough.
| Competitor | URL | Pricing | What they do well | What they do poorly | Their target customer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | |||||
| 2. | |||||
| 3. | |||||
| 4. | |||||
| 5. |
Market size signals:
- Estimated number of potential users:
- Are competitors growing or stagnating? (Check their blog, changelog, social)
- Is this market expanding? (New regulations, tech shifts, behavior changes)
- Is there venture funding in this space? (Crunchbase, recent raises)
Differentiation
Why would someone switch from a competitor to you? Be specific. "Better UX" is not an answer.
Primary differentiation: (One sentence: what makes you fundamentally different)
Switching trigger: (What event or frustration would cause someone to leave their current tool and try yours?)
Defensibility: (Why can't a competitor copy this in a week?)
Differentiation checklist — check all that honestly apply:
- Solves a use case competitors explicitly ignore
- 10x faster at the core workflow
- Significantly cheaper (not 10% — at least 50%)
- Built for a specific audience competitors treat as secondary
- Uses new technology (AI, etc.) to unlock something previously impossible
- Better distribution channel (community, marketplace, integration)
If you checked zero boxes, your differentiation isn't strong enough.
Key Risks
List the top 3-5 things that could kill this idea. Be brutally honest.
Risk 1: [Name the risk]
- Likelihood: High / Medium / Low
- Impact: Would kill the product / Would slow growth / Would require pivot
- Mitigation: (What could you do to reduce this risk?)
Risk 2: [Name the risk]
- Likelihood: High / Medium / Low
- Impact: Would kill the product / Would slow growth / Would require pivot
- Mitigation:
Risk 3: [Name the risk]
- Likelihood: High / Medium / Low
- Impact: Would kill the product / Would slow growth / Would require pivot
- Mitigation:
Common risks to consider:
- Market too small to sustain a business
- Customer can't or won't pay for this
- Competitors have too much momentum / brand / funding
- Technical feasibility is unproven
- Regulatory or legal barriers
- Requires network effects you can't bootstrap
Red Flags Checklist
Be honest. Check any that apply:
- I can't name a single real person who has this problem
- There are zero competitors (market may not exist)
- There are 50+ well-funded competitors (market may be saturated)
- The target customer has no budget for software
- I'm building this because it's technically interesting, not because someone needs it
- My differentiation is "it's AI-powered" with no other advantage
- I haven't talked to a single potential customer
- My target customer is "everyone"
- The problem only exists because of a temporary situation
- I need to educate the market that the problem exists
If you checked 3+ boxes, seriously reconsider before proceeding.
Recommended Next Steps
Based on your research above, make a decision.
Verdict: GO / PIVOT / STOP
GO — Clear problem, identifiable customer, viable differentiation. Proceed to PRD.
- I can name 3+ people who would pay for this
- I have differentiation that isn't easily copied
- The market is large enough and growing
- I have a distribution strategy beyond "build it and they will come"
PIVOT — Good problem space, but need a different angle. Revisit with changes.
- What to change:
- What to keep:
- New hypothesis to test:
STOP — No clear customer, no differentiation, or no willingness to pay.
- Why this isn't worth pursuing:
- What to build instead (if anything):
Want the AI to walk you through this and challenge your assumptions? Try Build a Startup →