Problem? Validated. Solution? Eh ... not so much.
Getting blinded by your own preconceived ideas. When has that ever happened to anyone, amirite?
I built 🧠LeanCompass for founders to tinker with their business ideas while getting candid AI feedback. That is, until I reached out to other founders to see how it worked for their startup plans.
The feedback: Not compelling enough. What founder wants to spend their days fiddling with minor details?
So, a rethink: 🧠LeanCompass now looks at the bigger picture. You tell it about your startup plans and the AI does the work. It breaks down your idea, analyzes, then comes back with strategic guidance and actionable next steps.
You enter into a dialogue with your AI startup specialist, asking questions, digging deeper, and planning your next move. Like this:
As fellow founders, what's your take on this approach? Put in your startup idea, check out the analysis and start a focused chat with the AI!
Do let me know whether the analysis and the chat brought you impactful advice!
This is really smart — turning AI feedback into an actual “dialogue” instead of just static analysis feels way more valuable.
I’ve had the same issue: early feedback often feels too shallow, and you end up guessing what to fix next.
Curious:
How deep does the AI go when suggesting next steps (e.g. market fit, pricing, GTM)?
Have you seen it surface unexpected opportunities or only refine what founders already know?
Love the idea of a founder dropping their plan and getting structured guidance right away.
With enough background it goes pretty deep, for example suggesting specific search terms, subreddits, and post content for doing user outreach.
I found this works best in dialogue with the founder so it knows on which topics to dive deep. For example, this is the breakdown and analysis it gave me for Kaelis based on your post a few weeks back: https://leancompass.ai/c/06f26e3d-47cb-434e-bb35-2cf189b7a55e
The analysis on the left gives you a menu of choices to discuss further, such as the channels to reach users and the revenue model.
For example, I've asked it "Are there specific industries that are particularly reliant on messaging, internal or with customers?" in response to its "define channels" recommendation and it gave me this:
Digital Agencies (Marketing, Design, Development): Project-based work, client communication, and internal team coordination are heavily reliant on real-time messaging and shared documentation.
Consulting Firms (Tech, Management): Client engagements involve extensive communication, knowledge sharing, and documentation across distributed teams.
Then you'd decide what to focus on and perhaps ask "What's a good outreach channel for digital agencies" and so on, one step at a time.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Thanks so much Chris 🙌
Really appreciate you sharing LeanCompass and pointing out the digital-agency/consulting angle.
My first ICP stays micro-SaaS teams (3–7 people) to validate the core metrics, but I’ll definitely explore agencies and consulting firms as a natural next step.
Super helpful!
I like how you’re framing this around a compass rather than just another productivity tool -great minds think alike. Systems that give direction often outlast tools that just fill calendars or track tasks. In my own work, I’ve seen how having a compass for clarity and navigation changes the way people approach growth.
Curious — as you developed LeanCompass, how did you test whether people wanted a system to decide differently versus just another tool to do more?
TBH, I don't know yet.
I work with a lot of startups in my fractional CTO role and find myself frequently explaining similar things to different founders. My take with LeanCompass is to build a platform that acts as a mentor and guide at the strategic level, not a tool for executing specific tasks.
What are you working on these days? If you're exploring a startup idea or know anyone who is, I'd love to hear your feedback on LeanCompass, particularly the analysis and chat!
Hey Chris, I've been "in the trenches". Developing, refining, crying cold tears on the pillow. Ya know, a founder's life lmao. In all honesty, I was grazing, trying to figure it out, when I came across some documents inspired by Cal Newport's Deep Work, where the other piece of my puzzle was lying. I TOTALLY forgot about them, but within hours, Kindred Compass Academy was forged.