Dev.to
7/15/2026

How to Validate a SaaS Idea With No Money
Short summary
A practical zero-budget playbook for validating SaaS ideas before writing code, emphasizing that validation is a courage problem, not a budget problem. The author ranks validation signals from weakest (compliments) to strongest (pre-orders) and outlines a step-by-step process: read existing complaints on Reddit, conduct behavior-based interviews, and build a one-page waitlist landing page. The core message is to climb the evidence ladder before committing months to building.
- •Validation signals ranked: compliments (worthless) → email waitlist → call → pre-order (strongest)
- •Research existing complaints on Reddit and forums before posting anything
- •Interview 5-10 people about past behavior, not your idea; ask 'walk me through the last time this happened'
- •Build a one-page waitlist landing page using the exact words interviewees used
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