| name | fa-product-validation |
| description | Provides Stage 4 validation guidance for consumer one-off / in-app-purchase products - framing falsifiable money hypotheses under a cost ceiling, IP/trademark/name/domain clearance, problem and solution interviews that probe real past spend, concept tests with a clickable paywall, deflated willingness-to-pay (Van Westendorp, conjoint/MaxDiff), fake-door and painted-price tests, landing-page commitment ladders, ad-creative CPI testing that replaces the placeholder CAC, and community pre-validation. Use to get a go/no-go with at least one money-on-the-line signal before building. |
| license | MIT |
Gaia Product Validation
Scope and when to use
Use this skill to put money on the line before committing to a build. Scope is
one-off + IAP/IAG monetization; B2B seat-based SaaS is out of scope and an
auto-renew model is red-lined unless an in-scope decision is recorded.
Use when:
- a designed money model needs falsification before any slice is built
- willingness-to-pay must be confirmed by behavior, not by stated intent
- the placeholder CAC must be replaced by a measured CPI
Do not use when:
- the money model is not designed yet (run monetization design first)
- a paid signal already passed and the slice can start
Required inputs
- the designed money model, price ladder, and falsifiable hypotheses
- the current unit-economics model version and its placeholder CAC
- a stage cost ceiling and access to test channels
Owned outputs
- a documented go/no-go with at least one money-on-the-line signal
- deflated WTP, fake-door/painted-price results, and a measured CPI
- the re-run net LTV:CAC + payback gate on real CPI
Core workflow
- Frame falsifiable MONEY hypotheses and set a stage cost ceiling before spending.
- Clear IP / trademark / name / domain before investing in the identity.
- Run problem and solution interviews (12-20 persona-matched) that probe REAL past spend; treat "I'd download" as not equal to "I'd pay".
- Run concept tests with a clickable prototype that INCLUDES the paywall/IAP screen.
- Research WTP (Van Westendorp n>=100-200; conjoint/MaxDiff for bundles) then DEFLATE it with a quantified haircut.
- Run fake-door / painted-price tests and measure buy-taps against a pre-registered threshold.
- Build a landing page with a commitment ladder (email -> pre-order -> deposit).
- Run ad-creative CPI testing that REPLACES the placeholder CAC, then RE-RUN the net LTV:CAC + payback gate.
- Pre-validate with community (Discord/subreddit, founder pack) and document the go/no-go.
Money-on-the-line evidence
- A stated WTP number is a hypothesis; a buy-tap or deposit is evidence.
- Always deflate survey/conjoint WTP before it touches a build decision.
- The measured CPI, not the placeholder, decides the net LTV:CAC at this gate.
Anti-patterns
- do not accept "I'd download it" as a willingness-to-pay signal
- do not feed un-deflated stated WTP into the model
- do not skip the paywall screen in the concept test
- do not exceed the stage cost ceiling chasing certainty
- do not pass the gate without re-running it on measured CPI
Handoff and downstream impact
- hand the vertical slice the validated money model and confirmed price points
- hand the money gate the deflated WTP, paid signal, and measured CPI
- name the loop-back: failed WTP returns to ideation or monetization design
Completion checklist
- at least one money-on-the-line signal is documented
- WTP is deflated and IP/name/domain are cleared
- fake-door buy-taps were measured against a pre-registered threshold
- the net LTV:CAC + payback gate was re-run on measured CPI
References
