The 5-Hour Validation Sprint: How to Test 3 Ideas Before You Write a Single Line of Code

Last Tuesday, I had three product ideas bouncing around in my head. By Wednesday morning, two of them were dead and one had a waitlist of 23 people.

I didn't write a single line of code. I didn't design a logo. I didn't even register a domain.

I just spent five hours testing whether anyone actually cared.

This is the validation sprint. It's a framework I've been using for the last year to kill bad ideas fast and double down on good ones before I waste months building in the dark. It's not revolutionary. It's just disciplined.

And it works.

Why Most Validation Fails

The problem with most "validation" advice is that it's either too vague or too slow.

People will tell you to "talk to customers," but they won't tell you how many, where to find them, or what to actually ask. Or they'll tell you to build a landing page, but they won't tell you how to get traffic to it or what success actually looks like.

So you end up in this weird middle ground where you feel like you're "validating," but you're really just procrastinating with extra steps.

The validation sprint fixes this by giving you constraints:

5 hours total
3 ideas maximum
Zero code
Real signal only

If an idea can't get traction in five hours, it probably won't get traction in five months. Not because the idea is bad, but because you don't have a clear path to the people who need it.

The Sprint Structure (Overview)

Here's how the five hours break down:

Hour 1: Idea framing and research (20 min per idea)
Hour 2: Landing page or post creation (20 min per idea)
Hour 3: Distribution and outreach (20 min per idea)
Hour 4: Follow-up and engagement
Hour 5: Analysis and decision

You're going to feel rushed. That's the point. Constraints force clarity. If you can't explain your idea in 20 minutes, you don't understand it well enough yet.

Let's break down each hour.

Hour 1: Idea Framing (20 Minutes Per Idea)

Most ideas fail because they're too vague. "A tool for developers" isn't an idea. It's a category. You need to get specific enough that someone can immediately know if it's for them.

For each of your three ideas, answer these five questions:

1. Who is this for? (Be uncomfortably specific)

Bad: "Developers" Good: "Frontend developers at agencies who bill clients hourly and struggle to track their time across multiple projects"

Bad: "Small business owners" Good: "Local coffee shop owners who want to run Instagram ads but don't know where to start"

The more specific you are, the easier it is to find these people and talk to them.

2. What problem does it solve? (One sentence)

Not the features. The problem.

"Helps freelance designers create proposal documents faster so they can spend more time on actual design work."

"Gives podcast editors a simple way to remove filler words automatically without using complex video editing software."

If you can't write this in one sentence, you're not ready yet.

3. What's the alternative they're using now?

This is critical. If there's no current solution, even a bad one, it might mean there's no real problem.

Are they using:

A spreadsheet?
A manual process?
A tool built for something else?
Nothing (and suffering because of it)?

This tells you how painful the problem actually is.

4. What's your unfair advantage?

Why are you the right person to build this?

Maybe you were the target customer for years. Maybe you have access to a specific community. Maybe you already built something similar.

If you don't have an unfair advantage, that's fine but it means your validation bar needs to be higher.

5. What's the one-week version?

If you had to ship something in seven days that would solve even 20% of this problem, what would it be?

This forces you to think about what's actually core to the solution versus what's just nice-to-have.

Set a 20-minute timer for each idea. If you can't answer these five questions in 20 minutes, the idea isn't baked yet. Move on to the next one.

Hour 2: Create the Validation Asset (20 Minutes Per Idea)

Now you need something to show people. Not a product. A signal collector.

You have three options. Pick the one that fits your idea best:

Option A: The Launch Soon Profile

This is the fastest option and it's perfect for the validation sprint.

Go to your Makers Page profile. Add a new project. Mark it as "Launch Soon."

Include:

The one-sentence problem
Who it's for (specific)
Rough launch timeline
A single screenshot or mockup (can be a sketch)

This takes about 10 minutes. Use the other 10 minutes to write a short post explaining why you're building it.

The goal isn't to make it pretty. The goal is to make it clear enough that someone can decide if they want to follow it.

Option B: The Single-Page Site

If you need something that feels more "official," spin up a basic landing page.

Use Carrd, Webflow, or even a Google Doc. Keep it brutally simple:

Headline (the problem)
Subheadline (who it's for)
3 bullets (how it works)
Email signup form
Your contact info

Do NOT spend more than 20 minutes on this. If you're choosing fonts, you've already lost.

Option C: The Public Post

Sometimes the validation asset is just a post.

Write it on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Reddit depending on where your people are.

Format:

"I'm building [X] for [Y] because [Z]"
"It will [solve this problem] by [doing this]"
"If this sounds useful, reply and I'll add you to the early list"

That's it. 280 characters or 2,000 words, doesn't matter. Just make the ask clear.

Again: 20 minutes per idea. If you're spending longer, you're overthinking it.

Hour 3: Distribution (20 Minutes Per Idea)

This is the hardest part for most people. You've created the thing. Now you have to show it to strangers.

Here's the truth: if you can't find 20 people who might care about your idea in 20 minutes, you're either in the wrong place or the idea is too niche.

For each idea, pick two distribution channels and spend 10 minutes on each:

Channel 1: Direct Outreach (10 minutes)

Go find 10 people who have the problem you're solving.

Where to look:

Reddit threads where people are complaining
Twitter replies to relevant tweets
Discord or Slack channels
LinkedIn posts in your niche
Indie Hackers or other maker forums

Don't spam. Don't pitch. Just share your validation asset and ask, "Does this resonate with you?"

You're not trying to sell. You're trying to learn.

Target: 10 people reached in 10 minutes.

Channel 2: Community Post (10 minutes)

Post your validation asset somewhere public where your target audience hangs out.

Options:

Subreddit (read the rules first)
Twitter with relevant hashtags
Product Hunt "upcoming" page
Indie Hackers
Niche Slack/Discord communities
LinkedIn (if B2B)

Keep the post short. Lead with the problem, not the solution. Invite feedback, not just sign-ups.

Target: 1 post that could reach 50-500 people.

The goal isn't to go viral. The goal is to put your idea in front of people who have the problem and see if they flinch.

Hour 4: Engagement and Follow-Up

By now, you've put all three ideas out into the world. Hour 4 is about responding and digging deeper.

This is where you separate real interest from polite interest.

What to Look For:

Real Interest:

"When can I try this?"
"I've been looking for exactly this"
"Can you let me know when it's ready?"
People sharing it with others
Specific questions about how it works

Polite Interest:

"Cool idea!"
"Good luck with this"
Generic emoji reactions
No follow-up questions

Real interest is rare. If even 2-3 people out of 20 show real interest, you have something.

How to Respond:

For everyone who shows real interest:

Thank them
Ask a follow-up question: "What's the main thing you'd use this for?" or "What are you using now?"
Collect their email (if you haven't already)
Set an expectation: "I'm planning to have a rough version in 2-3 weeks. I'll reach out when it's ready."

The follow-up question is critical. It helps you understand if they really get what you're building, or if they're just being nice.

Spend this hour going through every response, every like, every share. Take notes. You're collecting data.

Hour 5: Analysis and Decision

Five hours are up. Now you need to make a call.

For each idea, score it on these four criteria (0-10 scale):

1. Direct Interest (0-10)

How many people showed real interest?

0-2 people = 0-3 points
3-5 people = 4-6 points
6-10 people = 7-9 points
10+ people = 10 points

2. Message Clarity (0-10)

Did people immediately understand what it was for?

If you had to explain it more than twice, your positioning is off. That's a red flag.

3. Personal Conviction (0-10)

How excited are you to build this, even if the numbers are weak?

This is subjective, but it matters. You need to be able to power through the hard parts. If you're not excited now, you won't be excited later.

4. Path to First Dollar (0-10)

Can you clearly see how you'd charge for this?

If the answer is "ads" or "maybe sponsorships eventually," give it a low score. If the answer is "people will pay $X per month for Y," give it a high score.

Add up the scores. The idea with the highest score wins.

If multiple ideas score above 30, you have options. That's a good problem. Pick the one you're most excited about.

If all three ideas score below 25, kill them all and come up with new ones. Better to know now than six months from now.

What to Do After the Sprint

You've identified your winner. Now what?

If the idea scored 35+:

You have a green light. Not to build the whole thing, but to build the smallest version you can charge for.

Your next steps:

Send a follow-up to everyone who showed interest
Add the project to your profile with "Launch Soon" badge (if not already)
Set a launch date (2-4 weeks max)
Build only the core feature
Charge money from day one

If the idea scored 25-35:

You have something, but it needs more work.

Spend another week refining the positioning. Try the sprint again with a sharper message. If the score doesn't improve, kill it.

If the idea scored below 25:

Kill it. Mourn it for 10 minutes. Then move on.

A failed validation sprint isn't a failure. It's a win. You just saved yourself months of work on something nobody wanted.

Real Example: My Last Sprint

Two weeks ago, I ran this exact sprint on three ideas:

Idea 1: A tool to auto-generate social media posts from blog content Idea 2: A job board specifically for indie maker hiring other indie makers Idea 3: A simple analytics dashboard for Makers Page profiles

I spent 5 hours. Here's what happened:

Idea 1: 2 people showed interest. 1 asked a follow-up question. Score: 18
Idea 2: 8 people showed interest. 4 said they'd pay. Score: 34
Idea 3: 12 people showed interest. 6 asked when it would be ready. Score: 41

I killed Idea 1 immediately. I put Idea 2 on the backlog. I started building Idea 3 the next day.

Three weeks later, Idea 3 has 47 people on the early access list and I haven't even finished the MVP yet.

That's the power of validation. You don't waste time on things the market doesn't want.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Taking Too Long

If your "sprint" turns into a two-day project, you're not sprinting. You're just building in disguise. Stick to the 5 hours.

Mistake 2: Only Asking Friends

Your friends will lie to you because they love you. You need strangers. Strangers will tell you the truth because they don't care about your feelings.

Mistake 3: Ignoring Weak Signals

If you have to beg people to care, they don't care. Move on.

Mistake 4: Building Before Validating

The whole point of the sprint is to validate first. If you find yourself opening VS Code during the sprint, you're doing it wrong.

Your Sprint Checklist

Print this out. Use it next time you have an idea you're not sure about.

Before You Start:

Block 5 hours on your calendar
Have 3 ideas ready to test
Set a timer
Turn off distractions

Hour 1: Frame

[ ] Answer the 5 questions for Idea 1
[ ] Answer the 5 questions for Idea 2
[ ] Answer the 5 questions for Idea 3

Hour 2: Create

[ ] Make validation asset for Idea 1
[ ] Make validation asset for Idea 2
[ ] Make validation asset for Idea 3

Hour 3: Distribute

[ ] Outreach + post for Idea 1
[ ] Outreach + post for Idea 2
[ ] Outreach + post for Idea 3

Hour 4: Engage

[ ] Respond to every comment/message
[ ] Ask follow-up questions
[ ] Collect emails from interested people

Hour 5: Decide

[ ] Score all three ideas
[ ] Pick the winner (or kill them all)
[ ] Write down your decision

The Brutal Truth

Most ideas don't deserve to be built.

That's not pessimistic. That's just math. There are infinite ideas and finite time. Your job as a founder isn't to build everything that sounds cool. Your job is to find the one thing people will actually pay for, and build that.

The validation sprint helps you find that thing without wasting months of your life.

It's not fun. It's not comfortable. But it's a lot more fun than building something for six months and launching to crickets.

Ready to Sprint?

If you have an idea right now that you're not sure about, don't start building. Start validating.

Set aside 5 hours this week. Follow the framework. Be honest about the results.

And when you find the winner, add it to your Makers Page profile with a "Launch Soon" badge. Start collecting the interest now, before you write a single line of code.

The people who win in the indie game aren't the ones who build the most. They're the ones who validate the fastest.

Stop guessing. Start testing.

Your next idea is waiting. But first, let's make sure it's worth building.