Founder library
Idea validation guides
Short, practical reads on deciding whether an idea has a market — the same framework Marketproof's evaluations are built on.
Community
Founder directory
Meet other founders validating ideas, see what they are building, and add your own listing.
How to validate a business idea: step by step
Six steps from a vague hunch to an evidence-backed verdict — with examples at every step.
Free market research sources for founders
Census data, Google Trends, BLS spending, industry reports, and competitor pricing — all free.
Market validation: what it is and how to do it
The full process — problem evidence, sizing, competitors, pricing tests — plus the research methods and the mistakes that sink founders.
The idea validation checklist
Twenty-five checks across problem, market, competition, pricing, and risk to run before you build anything.
How to validate a startup idea before you build
A five-step process: problem evidence, market size, competitors, willingness to pay, and a go/no-go verdict.
How to estimate market size (TAM, SAM, SOM)
Top-down and bottom-up sizing with real sources — census data, industry reports, and search trends.
TAM, SAM, SOM explained with a worked example
The three market-size layers, how to calculate each one, and a full worked example with defensible numbers.
How to test willingness to pay
Pricing-lab methods: Van Westendorp, conjoint-lite, and pre-sale tests that reveal what customers will actually pay.
Competitor analysis template for founders
A fill-in template: which five competitors to track, what to compare, and how to turn the table into a positioning decision.
AI idea validation tools: how to choose one
What AI validation tools do well, where they invent numbers, and the five things to demand before trusting a score.