I wasted 6 months + $8k on a bad idea — built this so you don’t have to

discovery is some of the hardest work

Love this—you're solving the Discovery problem. Now, let's solve the Viability problem.

Hey Yann GUTTER,

This is brilliant. You've perfectly captured the pain of the "idea lottery" and the emotional cost of building something that fails the market test (I've been there, too—wasted 4 months on a project that looked great on paper).

NextUnicorn solves the discovery and early social proofing step. It tells you which ideas resonate.

The Critical Missing Link (And Why I Built a Tool for It)

The next point where founders lose months isn't finding the idea; it's confirming the financial viability of the top-voted ideas before starting the build.

• An idea can get 91% right swipes and still be a financial black hole if the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is too high, or the Total Addressable Market (TAM) is too small to justify the necessary churn rate.

After wasting six months and over $8k on a project that failed the financial test, I built an AI-augmented tool to quickly run a professional viability analysis on any idea.

It takes the 'upvoted idea' and produces a custom, 72-hour validation report focused on the defensibility of the financial model (LTV/CAC ratio, 5-year growth projection, etc.).

Actionable Insight for NextUnicorn:

I highly recommend that for the top-voted ideas (like the 'Predicts Churn' SaaS), you push users to run this validation before they start building the MVP. A positive swipe means the idea sounds good; a positive financial report means the idea is fundable.

I'd be happy to run a complimentary SmartValidate™ report on the current top idea, "AI meeting notes --> auto-action items," and share the full financial viability scorecard back with the community. Let me know if that's something you'd be interested in seeing!

Keep building!

Mohammad Bukkar

(Founder, Sceamdo Technologies)

Random question have you ever thought about monetizing the anti-spam layer itself?

The $8k lesson resonates. Spent about 4 months on a project once where I talked myself into believing the problem was huge because *I* had it. Turns out I was basically the only one.

What I've learned since: the ideas that stick aren't the ones that sound clever in your head, they're the ones where strangers say "wait, can I pay for that right now?" without you even asking.

The swipe mechanic is interesting because it forces quick gut reactions. Most founders (myself included) overthink validation - we want surveys and interviews and market research when sometimes you just need to see if the thing resonates at a glance. If it needs explaining, it might already be too niche.

Curious about one thing though: are you filtering by user type at all? An idea that appeals to other builders might bomb with actual end users. The "manage your parents' subscriptions" thing is funny because builders would swipe right on it, but would their parents actually pay for it? That gap between "cool idea" and "thing people buy" is where most of my bad ideas died.

Love reading this

6 wasted month hurt but you got 6 month of building experience. Your new idea is great. But If you want to earn with this app itself the greater pain point that getting ideas is validating ideas. Let us indie devs submit their ideas for validation (need X votes to do?). More likely for us to come to check the results. Maybe limit to ideas useful for indie devs, then the validation might be more meaningful. Anyway, the current concept is also cool. Whats with the + Submit button? Can we already submit ideas?? In about FAQ you say all ideas are AI-generated. Please clarify that in the + Submit popup. Confuses me.

I'm currently using a marketing-focused smart software that's also great; it's called Amplift.ai, and I recommend it to more people!

Awesome, now if only someone would build a Tinder for finding startup cofounders 🥲

nice

NextUnicorn is genius for this exact reason: validate demand with almost zero cost. Just swiped for 5 minutes and almost died laughing at the “manage your parents’ subscriptions” idea sitting at 91% right-swipes… turns out my mom isn’t the only one hoarding Netflix, Spotify, and random newspaper trials from 2019

Definitely build that one first.

Hi everyone, I’m Aiko, a full-stack and Shopify developer who loves building clean, functional, and profitable digital experiences.

I specialize in Shopify custom themes, store optimizations, and full-stack solutions using modern JS frameworks. I enjoy creating products that feel elegant, simple, and truly helpful for users.

I joined Indie Hackers to connect with other builders, share ideas, and hopefully collaborate on projects where design, tech, and business blend beautifully together.

If you’re working on an e-commerce product, early-stage SaaS, or need a technical partner with a detail-oriented, warm-hearted approach.

I’d love to chat. 💛

Really like the honesty here. Most founders only admit these mistakes years later, not right after burning time and money. The idea of turning that pain into a fast feedback loop for others is actually clever — swiping through ideas is fun, but more importantly, it forces people to validate taste, not just brainstorm in a vacuum.The biggest value I see is helping people stop over-investing in untested assumptions. But I’m also curious how you’ll make the leaderboard meaningful long term — voting doesn’t always equal demand.Still, the execution feels fresh, lightweight, and useful. Excited to see which idea passes 80 % next.

Hey Yann, this is a really cool concept the “Tinder for SaaS ideas” angle immediately makes the exploration process way less overwhelming.

From a Reddit marketing perspective, you actually have a big opportunity here. Subreddits like r/SaaS, r/Entrepreneur, r/startups, r/SideProject, r/IndieHackers, and even niche verticals (devtools, AI builders, mobile apps, etc.) tend to respond well to products that spark conversation or debate. Your swipe mechanic + leaderboard is exactly the kind of “discussion-friendly” format that performs well organically.

A few quick thoughts based on what performs best on Reddit:

People love transparency. Your “I wasted 6 months + $8k” hook is exactly the kind of honest story that gets upvotes.

Idea validation content does extremely well. Showcasing the top 5 most right-swiped ideas this week could become a recurring post series this builds consistent engagement.

Poll-style posts (like asking what to ship first) get strong participation when placed in the right subreddits with a relatable angle.

If you ever want to drive real traction from Reddit, your product is perfect for “public building” threads commenters love giving brutal feedback.

Between your current poll options, my vote is:

A) More niche idea prompts.

Niche content is the easiest to generate meaningful discussions on Reddit because people feel the ideas are more relevant to their world.

Curious to see what direction this goes the concept has real viral potential if positioned right.

This is super cool. Love how you turned a painful 6-month, $8k lesson into something genuinely useful for other founders. The swipe format makes validation feel fun instead of heavy, and the 80 percent rule is a smart filter to avoid “building because I’m already committed.”

My vote goes to the all-time leaderboard. It would be great to see which ideas consistently resonate across weeks.

Nice work on this. Excited to see which idea crosses 80 percent next.