Framework
The Five-Interview Signal Test
Interview five buyers with a research hat on. No selling.
How it works
- 1Five matching answers: done. Five different answers: start over.
- 2Ask them to dream, and they may describe your product for you.
Hear it on the podcast
Turn Spreadsheets Into Apps Without a Single Prompt: AI Workflows for Founders With GainableListen to the episodeMore from this episode
Data as the SpecMost operators can’t describe a full app in a prompt.The 5% RuleTeams use about 5% of a typical SaaS tool’s features.Apps Are FilesApps used to be valuable because they were expensive to build.Deterministic Core, Probabilistic EdgesLLMs are great at reading messy data and finding connections.One Patch, Every AppVibe-coded apps are unique, like fingerprints, so each one needs its own security review.Builders and ConsumersIn a company of a few hundred, 10 to 20% start as builders.Team Pain Over Company PainSolve one team’s real problem, not the C-suite’s abstract one.
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The Pirate TestSteve's model for early customers and early feedback.The Repeatable Process TestHow she picked stationery over everything else.The Math of Human LikenessHer own term for sizing the market.The Laggard ArbitrageEveryone is racing to serve early adopters. Dan buys the other end of the curve.Ugly But UsefulThe founding validation test.The Mayan Village TestRyan's field-observed framework for durable demand.