Most SaaS validation checklists were written when building cost months and distribution was free on Twitter. Both assumptions are dead. Here's the 2026 checklist, organized by the three things that actually matter: demand, distribution, and defensibility.
Part 1: Demand (5 checks)
- Painful, frequent, expensive. The problem must be at least two of those.
- Existing spend. Users currently pay something — money, time, or a worse tool.
- Specific user. You can name 3 humans by first name (see Niche Down or Die).
- Repeatable trigger. The problem reappears weekly or monthly, not once a year.
- Decision speed. Buyer can say yes in under 30 days, ideally under 7.
Part 2: Distribution (5 checks)
- Channel named. You know the exact channel (subreddit, podcast, association, search term).
- Founder fit. You're already credible there or willing to spend 90 days becoming so.
- CAC plausible. Free or under $50 to acquire one paying user in this channel.
- Word-of-mouth shape. Users have a reason to tell other users.
- SEO opportunity. At least 3 long-tail queries with low competition exist.
Part 3: Defensibility (4 checks)
- Domain expertise. You know something most competitors don't (see Domain Expertise Moat).
- Workflow lock-in. Users embed it into a daily process, not a one-off task.
- Data accumulation. The product gets more valuable per user over time.
- Not just an AI wrapper. If GPT-7 ships next month, you still have a business.
Scoring
- 12+/14: Strong green light. Run a 48-hour demand test this week.
- 9–11: Conditional. Find the missing pieces before building.
- Under 9: Don't build it. Look for adjacent ideas with the same audience.
For a guided version of this checklist with an automatic score, run the ShipOrDrop quiz — it covers all 14 points in under two minutes (see Validate in 2 Minutes).