Introduction · From Idea to First Customer

Before you start

ChatGPT will tell you your idea is brilliant. So will your friends, your family, and most people you pitch it to, because saying so is easier than telling you the truth. That is exactly why so many first products get built and then meet a market that shrugs. This course is the antidote.

Over six short lessons you will take a raw idea and pressure-test it against reality, before you write a line of code. You will find out whether the problem is real, talk to the people who have it without being lied to, deliver the value by hand, and get an honest read on whether anyone will actually pay.

It is built for solo founders and small teams at the idea stage. No funding, no team, and no permission required. Work the lessons in order. Each one ends with copy-paste AI prompts to run against your own idea, and there is a downloadable playbook with fill-in worksheets if you would rather work on paper.

One thing to get straight before you begin: the goal is not to fall in love with your idea. It is to find out, cheaply and fast, whether it deserves the months you are about to spend. Most ideas should get a no, and finding that no in a week is a win, not a failure. When you are ready, start with lesson one.