Eval or Die: Every Founder Needs a Simple Idea Scorecard

YC's motto is "Make something people want." But how do you even know if people want your idea in the first place? Well, you don't until you ask them and that takes time and effort.

Which means you want to filter your ideas first, ideally via a simple evaluation framework, before you start serious validation work.

Yet way too many founders skip this crucial first step. They dive headfirst into validation or even directly into building a product. Then they wonder why it's so hard to find a winning idea.

Don't be that guy or girl. Use an evaluation scorecard to gauge your idea and save yourself weeks of wasted effort. You need a simple framework to quickly separate the solid ideas from the Swiss cheese. Your most precious resource right now is time. Don't waste it on the pointless!

The simplest evaluation matrix

The simplest matrix I ended up using (after many trials and errors) for my business ideas touches on a few key factors:

• Target customers - Do I think they will get passionate about this?
• Pain points - Does it scratch a must-solve itch - aka solves big enough pain?
• Job to be done - What underlying need does it fulfill?
• Your passion - Am I fired up to dominate this area? Can I see myself doing it in 10-15 years?
• Industry expertise - Do you know the space inside out or do I at least the dynamics and business models?
• Team prospects - Can I attract strong team, be it cofounders or employees?
• Resources - Do I have what I need to build an MVP and validate the idea on the market?

This proved to me over and over that it's enough of a first filter to bring good ideas to the front. I just run each idea through this basic framework, score them on a simple scale like 1-10, and see which bubbles up to the top.

It only takes a few minutes per idea and just writing things down in a structured way will give you extra perspective. Trust me on this one.

Additional 10 idea evaluation questions

Usually, as the next step, I take the top 1-3 contenders and interrogate them further with 10 more questions that go deeper into market viability and long-term goals.

It is totally optional. I don't use it every time. Sometimes I use directly business or value canvas or another framework that directly helps me build the pitch and value proposition.

Here are the extra 10 potential questions if you decide to further interrogate top ideas after the initial screening:

1. What unique value does this offer customers vs alternatives?
2. Who are the competitors and how big is the market opportunity?
3. What would it take to deliver an MVP or prototype?
4. What key risks and challenges can you foresee?
5. How hard will it be to acquire customers?
6. What would excellent product-market fit look like?
7. How passionate are you about dominating this space long-term?
8. What key partnerships or hires would accelerate success?
9. How capital intensive will it be to scale?
10. If wildly successful, what's the end vision and exit strategy?

The goal of these questions is to help me scrutinize and gain additional context for things like:

• Market viability - size, demand, competitors
• Ability to execute - resources, team, roadblocks
• Product-market fit potential - value proposition
• Passion alignment - personal motivation
• Business model validation - costs, revenue, partnerships
• Risks and mitigation strategies
• Longer-term goals and trajectory

Getting clear answers on these factors will give you confidence that an idea is strong enough to move forward with. You will also learn a lot about the market and how the idea fits in with your long-term ambitions. And it will take about an hour or two. Actually, you should give yourself a time limit for doing this second part.

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Don't be afraid to kill off ideas that don't cut it. Not every baby is beautiful. Refine it, poking holes and stress-testing every angle, until you have confidence it's a winner.

I can't stress it enough, an hour of thorough evaluation now can save you weeks or months of wasted effort later. Always run your ideas through a simple filter first!

Evaluate or die! The choice is yours!

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Here's the simplest idea evaluation template ⚖️

Whether you're an aspiring founder, an employee with a side project brewing, student, hackathon participant, innovation consultant, or even a seasoned entrepreneur (though you likely have your own process), this New Idea Evaluation Matrix Template can help quickly gauge your chances of success with a new concept.

You can download this Notion template for FREE and jump right into evaluating your hot ideas 😊