sales-idea-validation

name	sales-idea-validation
description	Validating a startup or product idea before you build it — the methodology plus the AI-validator tool landscape for first-time founders, makers, and vibe coders. Covers the validate-before-you-code workflow (problem and demand research, customer interviews, market sizing, willingness-to-pay), the crucial gap between an AI "idea score" and real demand, and how to run a fake-door / smoke test, a pre-sale, and a waitlist to get evidence real people want it. Use when you want to validate a startup idea, decide whether an idea is worth building, get a build-or-don't-build verdict, avoid building something nobody wants, interpret an AI validation score, run a smoke test or fake-door test, pre-sell before building, or choose between AI idea-validation tools (Validator AI, DimeADozen, IdeaProof, Trend Seeker, and similar). Do NOT use for growing a pre-launch waitlist audience (use /sales-audience-growth) or building the landing page itself (use /sales-funnel).
argument-hint	[describe your idea and what evidence you have so far]
license	MIT
version	1.0.30
tags	["sales","validation","pre-launch","strategy"]

Idea Validation

Help the user find out whether real people want their idea before they spend weeks building it. Tool-agnostic: covers the evidence ladder (problem → demand → willingness-to-pay), how to read an AI "idea score" without being fooled by it, and how to run cheap real-world tests (smoke test, pre-sale, waitlist). The core message: an AI validator is a gut check, not proof — proof is a stranger taking an action (an email, a click on "buy", a pre-order).

Step 1 — Gather context

Ask only what you can't infer:

1. What's the idea, in one sentence? Who's it for and what problem does it solve?
2. What evidence do you already have? (multi-select) A hunch · talked to potential users · an AI validation score · a landing page · a waitlist · someone offered to pay.
3. What's the real question you're trying to answer?
   • A) Is this problem real / painful enough? (problem validation)
   • B) Do enough people want a solution? (demand validation)
   • C) Will they pay, and how much? (willingness-to-pay)
   • D) Should I build this at all — go / no-go?
4. How much time/money before you'd build? (Most validation costs under a few hundred dollars and 1–3 weeks.) And can you build it yourself (vibe coder) or are you paying someone?

Skip-ahead: if the user already has a landing page and just wants to test demand, jump to Step 3's smoke-test section.

Step 2 — The validation method (the evidence ladder)

Climb from cheapest/weakest to strongest evidence. Stop as soon as you have a clear no; keep going for a yes.

1. Problem research (cheap, weak alone). Confirm the problem exists and hurts: read where your users already complain (Reddit, niche communities, support forums, review sites), search volume, and existing paid alternatives. No existing solutions is usually a red flag (no market), not a gold mine.
2. Customer conversations (do ~10). Talk to real target users about their problem — not your idea. Ask about the last time they hit the problem and what they did. People are polite about ideas and honest about their past behavior; mine the behavior.
3. AI idea validation (instant, directional). Run the idea through an AI validator for a fast structured second opinion (score, market size, competitors, risks, GTM angle). Treat it as a hypothesis generator and blind-spot check, not evidence — the model can sound confident about things it invented. Use it to sharpen the pitch and find competitors, then go get real signal.
4. Demand test / smoke test (real signal). A fake-door / smoke-test landing page describes the product as if it exists and measures whether strangers take an action — join a waitlist or click "Get started / Buy". Drive a little traffic (a community post, a small ad budget) and read the conversion. A commonly cited bar is ~5%+ of targeted visitors taking the action = active demand.
5. Willingness-to-pay / pre-sale (strongest). Ask for money before it's built: a pre-order, a "pay $X now for lifetime/50% off", a paid pilot. Credit cards are the truth — a pre-sale that converts beats any score. Refund cleanly if you decide not to build.

How much signal is enough? More committed = more evidence. An email < a click on "buy" < a card entered. One pre-sale from a stranger outweighs a 9/10 AI score. Decide a go/no-go threshold before you run the test so you don't rationalize a weak result.

Step 3 — Tool landscape

Two different jobs — don't confuse them:

• AI idea validators (instant AI opinion on the idea): fast, broad, directional; the risk is confident hallucination. Good for a first-pass gut check, competitor list, and pitch sharpening.
• Real-demand tools (measure what strangers actually do): landing-page builders + waitlists + ads + pre-sale checkout. This is where truth lives.

Tool	Job	Notes
Validator AI (/sales-validator-ai)	AI validator	Free core validator + score, market size, competitor + customer-simulation; paid Accelerator/Pro. UI tool, no public API.
DimeADozen (/sales-dimeadozen)	AI validator	One-time, keep-forever report (no subscription, credits never expire): free 4-dimension idea score → a 200+ page "build or don't build" report with a named comp-set, unit-economics/retention math, and a marketed 800+ citations — but citation verifiability and comp-set relevance are disputed (niche ideas benchmarked against irrelevant giants). UI-only; API is Enterprise/custom only.
Preuve AI (/sales-preuve)	AI validator (source-linked)	10 agents + a cross-validator search 50+ live sources and cite every claim; conservative viability score (median ~55), competitor map, pivots. Free Reality Check → one-time Founder Report; a Radar subscription re-scans over time. UI-only, no API — a citation shows the problem is discussed, not that anyone will pay.
FounderPal (/sales-founderpal)	AI marketing suite (+ validator)	Solopreneur marketing tools (strategy, persona, value prop) with a free idea validator; UI tool, no API — a generated strategy is not validated demand.
InstantPersonas (/sales-instantpersonas)	AI persona generator	Named buyer/user personas + website-perception "Insights" + competitor-persona discovery from a short description; UI tool, no API — a generated persona is not validated demand. Its free no-signup front door is User Persona (userpersona.dev) — same maker, core persona generation only.
PersonaGen (/sales-personagen)	AI persona generator	Detailed user personas (demographics, goals, challenges, motivations, frustrations, channels, quotes) + reusable content-generation prompts, organized into projects and feature-wise sections from a short product description; UI tool, no API — a generated persona is not validated demand. Launched free/beta (live site was unreachable at research — verify at personagen.app).
Personadeck (/sales-personadeck)	AI persona generator	Styled persona card from a short description with an explicit persona-type choice — User Persona vs Negative Persona (the skeptic/non-buyer) — plus personality-trait predictions (practical-vs-emotional, introvert-vs-extrovert), editable labels, multilingual generation, and PDF-only export; UI tool, no API. Reviewers fault it for repackaging thin input — a generated persona is not validated demand. Free/Basic/Medium/Pro (EUR) + AppSumo lifetime deal.
Marketing Mary (/sales-marketing-mary)	Data-grounded, interactive persona (co-pilot)	The conversational, data-grounded counterpart to the prompt-only generators: personas are built from your real CRM/GA4/email/ad data (not a one-line description) and you chat with them to pressure-test subject lines/objections/messaging before a campaign, plus ~10-stakeholder B2B buying-committee mapping and auto-update as data flows in — inside a research→publish marketing co-pilot. Subscription (Starter/Growth/Agency, GBP), UK/EU/GDPR-hosted, waitlist-stage; native HubSpot/Salesforce/GA4 connectors but no public API/webhooks/developer MCP server (the footer "MCP addendum" is a legal doc). Needs real data volume to beat a generic persona — and talking to a synthetic persona is directional, not demand.
Juma (/sales-juma)	AI marketing workspace (persona is one Flow)	Formerly Team-GPT. A broad AI marketing workspace — 700+ Flows, shared Projects (persistent brand context), multi-model chat (Claude/GPT/Gemini) — where buyer-persona generation is one Flow (Prompt Builder → follow-ups → refined prompt → generate → editable page). Its real differentiator in this cluster: it's the only tool here with a callable MCP server (mcp.juma.ai, OAuth, 40+ tools) — drive persona/brand/content/SEO from Claude Code/Cursor. Credit-metered (full-featured Free plan; only successful runs charge; MCP reads are free). No REST API/webhooks/Zapier — MCP is the automation surface. A generated persona tracks input depth and is not validated demand.
aicofounder (/sales-aicofounder)	AI co-pilot (grounded validator)	Phased idea→launch workspace; multi-agent Reddit/X demand research (grounded, stronger than pure-LLM) + planning agent; UI tool, no API — a generated plan is not validated demand.
IdeaProof (/sales-ideaproof)	AI validator (+ pre-launch suite)	120s viability score + GO/NO-GO, then bundles plan/brand/logo/pitch/ads; credit-based, UI-only/no API. Score runs high (~78 median) — treat as directional, not demand.
Informly (/sales-informly)	AI validator (+ report bundle)	One freeform idea → a 75+ page PDF: viability score + ~11 reports (MVP roadmap, landing page, marketing/sales, competitive positioning, pitch deck, fundraising, pivot). Priced per report ($29.99 one-time, no subscription/credits); UI-only/no API, PDF export only. No independent scoring rubric — plans "assume Go, not No-Go."
RebeccAi (/sales-rebeccai)	AI validator (+ cheap business plan)	The cheapest validate-plus-plan combo: a single text-box idea → a quick evaluation, strengths/weaknesses, and improvement tips, plus an optional one-time business plan (15–25 pages). Free tier is capped (a few ideas/day, short output, no customization); Premium unlocks unlimited + longer output. Two cautions unique to it: a "feedback personality" toggle biases the verdict toward what you want to hear, and the plan's financials are AI estimates for an untested idea; UI-only, no API. (rebecc.ai — not the parked rebeccai.com.)
ReadySetLaunch (/sales-readysetlaunch)	AI validator (interrogation-style)	"Launch Control" walks 13 questions across 7 pillars and surfaces gaps in weak answers instead of a feel-good score (anti-gaslighting); deliberately slow (~30–45 min), credit-based/no subscription, UI-only/no API. The gaps are the value; still an AI gut check, not demand.
SoloLaunch (/sales-sololaunch)	AI startup builder (asset kit)	One-line idea → a "startup foundation": names, taglines, logo/brand, market analysis, an interactive timeline/roadmap, and marketing strategy. Priced as a monthly subscription (free Starter → paid Pro), unlike one-time/credit siblings; UI-only/no API — a generated foundation is not validated demand. (Note: sololaunch.app, the co-pilot; sololaunch.ai is a separate launch directory → /sales-launch-directory.)
Frederick AI (/sales-frederick)	AI teammate/co-founder that executes	Unlike report-only siblings, its agents build and run things: Coding Agents ship landing pages/apps/APIs, Browser Agents automate web tasks, Background Agents run scheduled work, and Market Insights delivers competitor tracking/market research/social monitoring on a schedule. Credit-metered (AI Credits; free tier → paid Plus/Pro). UI-only/no public API. The validation upside: it can build the smoke-test page itself — but its market research is not demand.
VenturusAI (/sales-venturusai)	AI validator (frameworks)	Runs an idea through classic strategy frameworks — SWOT, PESTEL, Porter's Five Forces, VRIO + TAM/SAM/SOM sizing, target-audience personas, financial projections, MVP/GTM, and a pitch deck. Pure-LLM, no source citations, and scores skew encouraging. Standard vs Advanced reports; free Starter (~2/mo, ~1k-char cap, watermarked) → Lite/Pro → Enterprise. API is Enterprise-only and undocumented; UI-only otherwise.
VentureKit (/sales-venturekit)	Business-plan software (funding docs)	Not a "validator" — AI business-planning software that turns an idea into a full ~28-page plan + lender-ready financial forecasts (P&L, balance sheet), a pitch deck, and market research, plus an AI business assistant, a Radar monitor, and a separate LLC formation & compliance service. Angle is lender/SBA-ready funding docs; very generous free tier (unlimited light plans + ~3 full/mo) → Pro → Agency (many plans, for consultants). Plans/financials are AI estimates (can read cookie-cutter/invented) and there's no team collaboration; UI-only, no public API. A fundable plan is a document, not demand.
Plannit AI (/sales-plannit)	Business-plan generator	AI business-plan generator (a questionnaire → a 15–20 page plan with market analysis, financial projections, and a pitch deck), now rebranded AIGenerator.com (AIGenerator LLC) with a marketing-asset suite bolted on and real-time team collaboration (unlike VentureKit). Forecasting is its weakest module and plans read generic for niche industries — replace the numbers and edit heavily. Pricing shifted from one-time per plan (old) to a free tier + monthly (new); UI-only, no public API. (plannit.ai now serves AIGenerator.com; plannit.io is an unrelated app.) A generated plan is a document, not demand.
Upmetrics (/sales-upmetrics)	Business-planning suite (mature/team)	Established AI business-planning suite (not a validator) — AI Assistant drafts sections, 400+ sample plans, deep multi-year forecasting (P&L, cash-flow, break-even, 3-/7-yr, scenarios), plan-vs-actuals tracking, QuickBooks/Xero import, pitch deck, strategic canvases, real-time collaboration (unlike VentureKit) and a Professional/white-label tier for consultants. Its edge over the AI-first generators is accounting sync + forecast-vs-actuals + team/advisor features; the catch: AI drafts read generic (rich input + hand-edit), financials are estimates, accounting sync is one-way (not live), and it's UI-only, no public API. A generated plan is a document, not demand. (Note: upmetrics.co here; upmetrics.com is an unrelated impact-reporting tool.)
PrometAI (/sales-prometai)	Business-plan software (connected financials)	AI business-plan generator whose edge is a connected financial model — projections, a DCF valuation, stress testing, and scenario analysis that recalculate together on input change (reviewers call it the tool whose financials stay "grounded, connected end-to-end") — plus SWOT/VRIO frameworks and a 50+ tool "Entrepreneur Journey." A subscription (unlike the one-time/credit siblings): free Explore (view-only, no export) → Basic ($55/mo, PDF export) → Pro ($145/mo, PowerPoint + DCF/stress testing + term-sheet templates) → Enterprise (FP&A + ERP, sales-gated). Catches: it invents market figures (verify every stat), the DCF is a model not an appraisal, exports lose formatting, collaboration is very limited, and most lenders still want a separate financial review; UI-only, no public API. A polished, investor-grade plan is a document, not demand.
Bizplanr (/sales-bizplanr)	Business-plan generator (free)	A free AI business-plan generator — questionnaire → a full structured plan (executive summary, market analysis, marketing strategy, operations, basic financials) in ~5 min, plus standalone SWOT/competitor/financial-model/one-page generators, an AI business advisor, and iOS/Android apps. Monetized by a one-time paid workspace (not a subscription) that adds the guided editor, advanced forecasting, and Word/Excel export (free export is typically PDF-only). Financials are AI estimates, plans read generic for niche/complex businesses, and the standalone tools' outputs don't cross-reference each other; UI-only, no public API. A generated plan is a document, not demand. (Namesake: bizplanr.ai here vs the different bizplanner.ai / bizplanaipro.com.)
BizPlanner AI (/sales-bizplanner)	Business-plan generator (paid)	A paid GPT-4 business-plan generator — questionnaire → a full multi-section plan (executive summary, market/competitor analysis, SWOT, financial projections, industry trends, regulations, next steps) in ~15 min, with an in-browser editor and PDF/Word export. No free tier: a one-time payment (~$9.99) generates a plan + 2 free full regenerations, then further generation is metered as AI-word top-ups; runs a 30% affiliate. Financials are AI estimates (invents assumptions from thin input) and plans read generic for niches; UI-only, no public API. A generated plan is a document, not demand. (Namesake: bizplanner.ai here — paid, no free tier — vs the free bizplanr.ai.)
BizPlan AI Pro (/sales-bizplanaipro)	Business-plan generator (credit-based)	A credit-based, pay-per-use AI business-plan generator (by S. Enterprise) — questionnaire → an "investor-/lender-ready" plan (executive summary, market analysis, competitive landscape, 5-year projections) across 150+ templates, bundled with a Startup Idea Validator, an AI Business Coach (metered by separate Coach credits), an AI Decision Analysis tool, and team collaboration. Sells credit packs that never expire, no subscription (Starter/Professional/Enterprise ~$2.99/$15/$39 — Capterra lists a ~$30 Starter, so pricing is unsettled); a plan generation and Coach chat burn separate meters, and iterating an idea re-generates several times. Advertised "97% accuracy"/"$8M raised" are unverifiable marketing; financials are AI estimates, plans read generic for niches, and the bundled Idea Validator is an AI opinion; UI-only, no public API. A generated plan is a document, not demand. (Namesake: bizplanaipro.com here vs the free bizplanr.ai / the paid bizplanner.ai.)
PlanSnack (/sales-plansnack)	Business-plan builder (free, manual one-page — not AI)	The odd one out in this cluster: not an AI generator — a free, guided five-step one-page template you fill in yourself (with pre-written example text as a starting point), then download/print/share. No AI generation, no financial forecasting, no API/integrations (UI-only). Good for a fast lean one-pager (own clarity, co-founder sync, quick teaser); not a lender/SBA/investor package (no multi-year projections). Reach for it when someone wants to write a quick one-pager themselves rather than have an AI draft a full plan; a one-pager is still a document, not demand. (Third-party directories overstate its features — verify on plansnack.com.)
WorthBuild (/sales-worthbuild)	AI validator (+ customer discovery)	The validator that also hands you your first customers: a fast full report (TAM/SAM/SOM, ~12-competitor map, risks, unit economics, week-by-week roadmap, Go/Pivot/Stop verdict) plus "Your First Customers" — real people voicing the problem on Reddit/HN/X with ready-to-send outreach messages — a free auto-generated landing page + waitlist, a one-click pitch deck, and AI pivots. One-time per report + a free monthly validation (no subscription); UI-only, no API. The leads are a conversation shortlist but are interest, not demand, and the verdict is an AI opinion — vet the leads, personalize outreach, and take the go/no-go from real behavior.
BuildOrNot (/sales-buildornot)	Discovery data + AI evaluator	Idea discovery: browsable datasets of AI tools/startups ranked by revenue & growth, Reddit ideas, revenue records, trending topics — plus a free single-prompt AI evaluator. The data is a shortlist/competitor scan (scraped, verify numbers); the AI take is directional, not demand. UI-only, no API.
VentureVault (/sales-venturevault)	Discovery vault (free)	A free IdeaBrowser clone: a browsable vault of AI-scored, pre-researched startup ideas (opportunity score = revenue potential / execution difficulty / GTM / community interest) to shortlist a niche worth building. 100% free, no tier; web + iOS/Android apps, open-source maker. The scores/market analysis are AI estimates (verify numbers) and a browsable idea is not demand; UI-only, no API. (Canonical domain venturevault.space, not the dead .co.)
Ideagrape (/sales-ideagrape)	Discovery + AI validator (hybrid)	A cheaper IdeaBrowser alternative blending both jobs: browse a 700+ market-scored SaaS-idea database (search volume, growth, market size) + generate custom ideas, then validate one with an opportunity score, a WTP analyzer, an assumption validator, a build blueprint, and a growth matrix (AI Chat on Pro). Free tier is capped (a daily generation limit + a limited recent-ideas window); paid annual Starter/Pro undercut IdeaBrowser. UI-only, no API — a browsed idea and an AI score are estimates, not demand; the WTP price is a hypothesis to pre-sell.
IdeaTwister (/sales-ideatwister)	AI validator (pivot-ranking)	The "pick the best angle" tool: takes ONE seed idea, twists it into 10–25 pivots/variations, and ranks every pivot across five commercial dimensions (buyer urgency, market proof, solo executability, revenue speed, defensibility), returning an interactive dashboard with GTM sketches, "$100K math," and 30-day plans. One-time pay-per-run (no subscription; cheapest scores the original only, top tier generates ~25 and fully validates 2); failed runs auto-refund. Reach for it when you have an idea and need which version to build — not to discover an idea, and a ranked pivot is not demand. UI-only, no API.
Trend Seeker (/sales-trendseeker)	Real demand signal	Reddit-based demand discovery + evidence scoring — closer to real behavior than a pure LLM opinion.
A landing page + waitlist (/sales-funnel, /sales-audience-growth)	Real demand test	The actual smoke test; where a go/no-go is earned.

Read the AI score critically. Two validators will disagree on the same idea, and an LLM will happily rationalize a bad idea. Use AI for structure and blind spots; use a smoke test / pre-sale for the decision.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

• Lay out the evidence ladder cheapest-first. Give the user the ordered sequence — problem research → ~10 behavior-focused customer conversations → an AI validation (directional) → a fake-door / smoke-test landing page → a pre-sale (willingness-to-pay) — and tell them to stop at the first clear no and keep climbing on a yes. Cheaper/weaker signal first, strongest (money) last.
• Sort every tool into "AI opinion" vs "measures real behavior," and keep the validator's structured outputs. When the user names a tool, classify it: AI idea validators (Validator AI, DimeADozen, IdeaProof, …) give an instant opinion that can be confidently wrong; real-demand tests (a landing page + waitlist, or Reddit-signal tools like Trend Seeker) measure what strangers actually do — the decision belongs to the latter. From any AI validator, keep the structured parts (competitor list, risks, positioning, customer-objection simulation) to sharpen the pitch and discard the verdict. A gap-surfacing interrogator (ReadySetLaunch, which flags weak pillars instead of a feel-good score) is still AI opinion — its gaps are a sharpening tool, not demand; the go/no-go stays with real behavior.
• Anchor the decision on real behavior, not an AI score. Whatever tool the user ran, tell them an AI validator is a directional gut check that can hallucinate — the go/no-go must rest on a stranger taking an action (waitlist email, "buy" click, or a pre-order). Route the real test to /sales-funnel (build the page) and /sales-audience-growth (drive & capture signups).
• Push toward willingness-to-pay early. The strongest cheap signal is money: propose a pre-sale or paid pilot ("pay now to lock in lifetime/50% off"), and refund if they don't ship. A single paying stranger outweighs a 9/10 score.
• Set the go/no-go threshold before testing. Have the user commit to a number first (e.g. "≥5% of targeted visitors join, or ≥N pre-orders") so a weak result can't be rationalized after the fact.
• Validate the problem by past behavior, not the idea. In interviews, ask about the last time they hit the problem and what they did — people flatter ideas but reveal truth in behavior. Aim for ~10 conversations.
• Cross-check any AI validator with a second source. Run a second validator or a real demand signal (e.g. /sales-trendseeker for Reddit demand); disagreement between them is the useful information.
• Treat "no competitors" as a warning, not a win — usually it means no market or bad search, not a clear field. Have them look harder for how people solve it today (including spreadsheets and duct tape).

Gotchas

Best-effort from research (2026-07) — the AI-validator tool set churns fast; verify current tiers.

• AI validators hallucinate with confidence. A high score is not demand; the model can invent market sizes and "validate" almost anything. Always follow with a real-behavior test.
• Two tools, two verdicts. Idea validators disagree on the same input — no single score is truth.
• Vanity signups aren't willingness-to-pay. Free waitlist emails are weak; a card/pre-order is strong. Weight your evidence by how much it costs the person to give.
• Surveys lie, behavior doesn't. "Would you use this?" over-reports; a click on "buy" or money down under-reports honestly. Prefer observed actions to stated intentions.
• "No competition" usually = no market. Reframe the absence of alternatives as a demand red flag.
• Don't outsource the decision to a bot. The tools inform; the go/no-go is a threshold the founder sets and a test the market answers.

Related skills

• /sales-validator-ai — Validator AI platform help (free AI idea validator: score, market size, customer simulation)
• /sales-preuve — Preuve AI platform help (source-linked validator — 10 agents cite every claim across 50+ live sources, conservative viability score, plus a Radar monitoring tier; UI-only, no API)
• /sales-dimeadozen — DimeADozen platform help (one-time, keep-forever validation report — free 4-dimension score → a 200+ page build-or-don't-build report with a named comp-set + unit-economics math and a marketed 800+ citations; citation verifiability and comp-set relevance disputed; UI-only, API is Enterprise/custom only)
• /sales-ideaproof — IdeaProof platform help (120s AI validation + pre-launch suite — viability score/GO-NO-GO, then plan/brand/logo/pitch/ads; credit-based, UI-only)
• /sales-informly — Informly platform help (AI idea validation + a 75+ page report bundle — MVP roadmap, landing page, marketing/sales, pitch deck, fundraising; priced per report, UI-only/no API)
• /sales-readysetlaunch — ReadySetLaunch platform help (interrogation-style validator — 13 questions across 7 pillars that surfaces gaps instead of an inflated score; credit-based/no subscription, UI-only)
• /sales-rebeccai — RebeccAi platform help (the cheapest validate-plus-plan combo — a single-text-box evaluation + strengths/weaknesses + improvement tips, plus a one-time ~15–25 page business plan; a "feedback personality" toggle biases the verdict and the plan's financials are AI estimates for an untested idea; UI-only/no API; rebecc.ai, not the parked rebeccai.com)
• /sales-founderpal — FounderPal platform help (solopreneur AI marketing suite with a free idea validator; a generated strategy is not validated demand)
• /sales-instantpersonas — InstantPersonas platform help (AI buyer/user-persona generator + website-perception insights; a generated persona is not validated demand)
• /sales-personagen — PersonaGen platform help (AI user-persona generator — detailed personas + content-generation prompts, organized into projects and feature-wise sections; UI-only/no API; a generated persona is not validated demand)
• /sales-personadeck — Personadeck platform help (AI customer-persona generator with an explicit User-vs-Negative persona-type choice, personality-trait predictions, editable labels, multilingual generation, and PDF-only export; UI-only/no API; reviewers fault it for repackaging thin input; a generated persona is not validated demand)
• /sales-marketing-mary — Marketing Mary platform help (the data-grounded, interactive persona tool — personas built from your real CRM/GA4/email/ad data that you converse with to test messaging pre-launch, plus ~10-stakeholder B2B buying-committee mapping and auto-update; a marketing co-pilot, subscription/waitlist-stage, UK/EU/GDPR, native HubSpot/Salesforce connectors but no public API/MCP server; talking to a synthetic persona is directional, not validated demand)
• /sales-juma — Juma platform help (formerly Team-GPT — a broad AI marketing workspace: 700+ Flows, shared Projects, multi-model chat, where persona generation is one Flow; the only tool in this cluster with a real MCP server [mcp.juma.ai, OAuth, 40+ tools] to drive persona/brand/content/SEO from Claude Code/Cursor; credit-metered with a full-featured Free plan, no REST API/webhooks; a generated persona tracks input depth and is not validated demand)
• /sales-venturusai — VenturusAI platform help (framework-driven validator — SWOT/PESTEL/Porter's Five Forces/VRIO + TAM/SAM/SOM, personas, financials, MVP/GTM, pitch deck; pure-LLM with no source citations, scores skew encouraging; API is Enterprise-only and undocumented)
• /sales-venturekit — VentureKit platform help (AI business-planning software — full plan + lender-ready financial forecasts, pitch deck, market research, AI assistant, Radar, and a built-in LLC formation service; generous free tier + an Agency tier for consultants; plans/financials are AI estimates and it's UI-only/no API — a fundable plan is a document, not validated demand)
• /sales-plannit — Plannit AI platform help (AI business-plan generator, now rebranded AIGenerator.com — questionnaire → a 15–20 page plan with market analysis, financial projections, a pitch deck, and marketing assets, plus real-time team collaboration; forecasting is weak and plans read generic for niche industries; UI-only/no public API — a generated plan is a document, not validated demand)
• /sales-upmetrics — Upmetrics platform help (mature, team-oriented AI business-planning suite — deep multi-year forecasting, plan-vs-actuals tracking, QuickBooks/Xero import, pitch deck, strategic canvases, real-time collaboration, and a Professional/white-label tier for consultants; AI drafts read generic and financials are estimates; UI-only/no public API — a generated plan is a document, not validated demand)
• /sales-prometai — PrometAI platform help (AI business-plan generator whose edge is a connected financial model — projections + DCF valuation + stress testing + scenario analysis that recalculate together — plus SWOT/VRIO and a 50+ tool "Entrepreneur Journey"; a subscription unlike the one-time/credit siblings; it invents market figures and the DCF is a model not an appraisal; UI-only/no public API — a polished plan is a document, not validated demand)
• /sales-bizplanr — Bizplanr platform help (a free AI business-plan generator — questionnaire → a full plan with basic financials in ~5 min, plus standalone SWOT/competitor/financial/one-page tools and mobile apps; monetized by a one-time paid workspace, not a subscription; UI-only/no public API — a generated plan is a document, not validated demand)
• /sales-bizplanner — BizPlanner AI platform help (the near-namesake paid GPT-4 business-plan generator — questionnaire → a full multi-section plan in ~15 min, PDF/Word export; no free tier, a one-time payment + AI-word top-ups, 30% affiliate; UI-only/no public API — a generated plan is a document, not validated demand; don't confuse bizplanner.ai with the free bizplanr.ai)
• /sales-bizplanaipro — BizPlan AI Pro platform help (the third near-namesake — a credit-based, pay-per-use business-plan generator bundling a Startup Idea Validator, an AI Business Coach [separate Coach credits], and AI Decision Analysis; credit packs never expire, "97% accuracy" is unverifiable marketing; UI-only/no public API — a generated plan is a document, not validated demand; bizplanaipro.com vs the free bizplanr.ai / the paid bizplanner.ai)
• /sales-plansnack — PlanSnack platform help (the cluster's odd one out — a free, manual one-page business-plan builder you fill in yourself from a guided five-step template, not an AI generator; no financial forecasting, no API/integrations; good for a fast lean one-pager but not a lender/SBA plan — and a written plan is a document, not validated demand)
• /sales-aicofounder — aicofounder platform help (AI co-founder with phased idea→launch workflow + grounded Reddit/X demand research; a generated plan is not validated demand)
• /sales-buildornot — BuildOrNot platform help (startup-idea discovery data platform + free single-prompt AI evaluator — datasets of revenue-ranked tools, Reddit ideas, and trending topics; the data is a shortlist, the AI take is not demand)
• /sales-venturevault — VentureVault platform help (a free IdeaBrowser clone — a browsable vault of AI-scored, pre-researched startup ideas with opportunity scores + market analysis; 100% free/no tier, web + iOS/Android, open-source; the scores are AI estimates and a browsable idea is not demand; UI-only/no API; venturevault.space, not the dead .co)
• /sales-ideatwister — IdeaTwister platform help (the "pick the best angle" validator — twists ONE seed idea into 10–25 ranked pivots across five commercial dimensions [buyer urgency, market proof, solo executability, revenue speed, defensibility] and returns an interactive dashboard with GTM sketches and 30-day plans; one-time pay-per-run, failed runs auto-refund; UI-only/no API — a ranked pivot is not validated demand, and it needs a seed idea so it's not a discovery catalog)
• /sales-ideagrape — Ideagrape platform help (a cheaper IdeaBrowser alternative blending discovery + validation — browse a 700+ market-scored idea database + generate custom ideas, then run an opportunity score, WTP analyzer, assumption validator, build blueprint, and growth matrix; free tier capped by a daily generation limit, paid annual Starter/Pro with AI Chat on Pro; UI-only/no API — a browsed idea and an AI score are estimates, not demand)
• /sales-worthbuild — WorthBuild platform help (the validator that also hands you your first customers — a fast full report [TAM/SAM/SOM, ~12-competitor map, risks, unit economics, roadmap, Go/Pivot/Stop verdict] plus "Your First Customers": real people voicing the problem on Reddit/HN/X with ready-to-send outreach, a free landing page + waitlist, a one-click pitch deck, and AI pivots; one-time per report + a free monthly validation, UI-only/no API; the surfaced leads are interest, not demand and the verdict is an AI opinion — vet the leads, personalize outreach, decide on real behavior)
• /sales-sololaunch — SoloLaunch platform help (AI startup builder/co-pilot — one-line idea → names, logo/brand, market analysis, an interactive timeline, and marketing strategy; monthly subscription, UI-only/no API; a generated startup foundation is not validated demand)
• /sales-frederick — Frederick AI platform help (AI teammate/co-founder that executes — Coding/Browser/Background Agents build & ship apps/landing pages and run scheduled Market Insights research; credit-metered, UI-only/no public API; it can build the smoke-test page but its market research is not validated demand)
• /sales-trendseeker — Trend Seeker platform help (Reddit-based demand discovery + evidence scoring — a real-signal validator)
• /sales-audience-growth — Grow a pre-launch waitlist and capture demand once you're testing
• /sales-funnel — Build the smoke-test / fake-door landing page the demand test runs on
• /sales-customer-feedback — Collect and prioritize feedback once you have early users
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code

Examples

Example 1: "My AI validator gave it 8/10 — should I build?"

User says: "Validator AI scored my idea 8 out of 10 with a big market size. Good to go?" Skill does: Reframes the score as a directional gut check that can be confidently wrong, not proof of demand; keeps the useful parts (competitor list, GTM angle, pitch sharpening) and prescribes the real test — a smoke-test landing page with a defined ≥5%-join threshold, then a pre-sale for willingness-to-pay — routing the build to /sales-funnel and signups to /sales-audience-growth. Result: The founder gets a go/no-go from stranger behavior instead of betting weeks on a number.

Example 2: Cheapest way to know if anyone wants it (developer/automation-minded maker)

User says: "I can vibe-code the MVP in a weekend, but how do I know it's worth it first?" Skill does: Lays out the evidence ladder cheapest-first — problem research + ~10 behavior-focused interviews, a fast AI validation for structure/competitors, then a fake-door landing page measuring "Get started" clicks, and finally a pre-sale — with a pre-committed go/no-go threshold, so a weekend of building is spent only after a stranger signals real demand. Result: A concrete, under-$100 validation plan that gates the build on evidence, not enthusiasm.

Example 3: Which validation tool for a go/no-go?

User says: "Is there one tool that just tells me build-or-don't-build?" Skill does: Separates AI validators (Validator AI free gut check; DimeADozen's one-time, keep-forever report — with the caveat its citations and comp-set need vetting) from real-demand tools (Trend Seeker's Reddit signal; a landing page + waitlist), recommends using an AI validator to sharpen the pitch and a demand test to decide, and warns that any single AI verdict can be confidently wrong — cross-check with a second source. Result: The user picks a two-step stack (AI sharpen → real-demand decide) instead of trusting one score.

Troubleshooting

"The AI said my idea is great but I'm not sure I believe it"

Symptom: A glowing AI validation the founder senses is too easy. Cause: LLM validators pattern-match to plausible-sounding encouragement and can invent supporting "facts" (market size, demand) — a high score reflects the model, not the market. Solution: Keep the structured outputs (competitors, risks, positioning), discard the verdict, and earn a real one: run a smoke test to a pre-set conversion threshold and attempt a pre-sale. Cross-check with a second validator or /sales-trendseeker.

Lots of waitlist signups but unsure it means anything

Symptom: The fake-door page collected emails but the founder doesn't trust the signal. Cause: A free email is low-commitment; it shows curiosity, not willingness to pay. Solution: Escalate commitment — add a "reserve your spot for $X" or pre-order step, or ask a subset to hop on a paid pilot. Weight the decision on the paid conversions, not the raw email count.

Can't tell if the problem is real

Symptom: Interviews are friendly but inconclusive. Cause: The questions asked about the idea ("would you use this?") instead of behavior. Solution: Re-run ~10 conversations asking about the last time they hit the problem and what they actually did/spent to solve it. Existing paid workarounds = real problem; shrugs = no pain, no market.