05/20/2025
Before I sold Quest for $1,000,000,000, I wasted millions trusting the wrong thing: My own ideas.
Here's the AI validation framework I wish I had when building Quest Nutrition:
Most entrepreneurs fail in the same boring way:
1. Have an idea
2. Fall in love with it
3. Build it for months
4. Launch
5. Discover nobody wants it
6. Repeat
This is "build and pray" physics. It's su***de.
But there's a better way. One that uses AI to kill bad ideas in 72 hours, not 12 months.
My 5-step AI validation framework that has saved millions in wasted effort:
1. Problem Verification
Your idea isn't special. Period.
The only thing that matters is: are people actively suffering from the problem you claim to solve?
Feed Perplexity and ChatGPT with Reddit threads, forum posts, and review sites.
Let AI extract patterns of pain. No real pain = dead idea.
2. Market Size Analysis
Even if the pain is real, is it widespread enough?
Let AI analyze Google Trends, search volumes, and TAM data.
Create detailed spreadsheets of potential users.
Too small = dead idea.
Goals make demands. If the goal is to build a substantial business, the market has to be big enough.
3. Competitor Assessment
Feed AI your top 5 competitors' websites, pricing pages, and customer reviews.
Have it identify gaps and oversaturation.
Create a map of what's missing. No clear advantage = dead idea.
Build from physics, not analogy. That's the only way to find a real competitive edge.
4. Zero-Cost MVP Design
Most founders build full products before validation. That's the most expensive way to learn.
With AI, create "fake door" tests instead:
• Landing page that looks real
• AI-generated mockups
• $50 of ads to see if people try to buy
No buyers = dead idea.
The market doesn't care how hard you worked. It only cares if you solved a real problem.
5. Early Adopter Interviews
For ideas that survive steps 1-4, use AI to:
• Draft perfect outreach messages
• Generate interview questions that reveal buying intent
• Analyze interview transcripts for patterns
No enthusiasm = dead idea.
This is Physics of Progress in action.
Test hypotheses. Follow the data. Kill your darlings fast.
The hard truth about entrepreneurship is that 90% of ideas SHOULD die.
Your job isn't to build - it's to kill bad ideas quickly.
Most entrepreneurs think failure is the worst thing that can happen.
It's not.
The worst thing is wasting years on something nobody wants.
Let AI be your reality check.
It's ruthlessly honest in a way your friends, your team, and even you can't be.
Ideas are worthless. Validation is everything.
PS: I’ve trained an entire GPT to track down the root cause of your next revenue plateau - and help you break through it.
It’s built based on 100,000s of data points from my group coaching sessions.
Grab it for free here: https://buff.ly/zT7uYuj
