Your First Validation

Go from idea to validated demand in one session.

[Live]

Overview

This tutorial walks you through your entire first validation — from creating an account to reviewing your Pretotyping Signal Report. By the end, you will have hard data on whether real people want what you are building, what language they use to describe the problem, and whether you should move forward.

Expected time: 10 minutes to set up. 24 to 48 hours for results.

Step-by-Step

Step 1: Create Your Account

Go to holyshift.ai and sign up. You need an email address and a password. No credit card is required to explore the platform.

Tip: Use your work email if you plan to share results with co-founders or investors. It makes collaboration easier later.

Step 2: Create a Project

Click New Project from your dashboard. Give it a descriptive name — something that will make sense when you have five projects running. "Expense tracker for freelancers" is better than "My idea."

Tip: Project names are for you, not your customers. Be specific enough that you can tell projects apart at a glance.

Step 3: Describe Your Idea

This is the most important step. Write a clear description that covers:

• What it does — The core functionality or value proposition.
• Who it is for — The specific type of person or business that would use it.
• What problem it solves — The pain point you are addressing.
• How it is different — What makes your approach better than what exists.

The more concrete and specific your description, the more targeted your validation results will be.

Tip: Avoid jargon and buzzwords. Describe your idea the way you would explain it to a smart friend who knows nothing about your industry. HolyShift uses this description to frame conversations with real people, so clarity matters.

Step 4: Define Your Target Market

Specify who you want to test with. You can define your audience by:

• Job title or role
• Industry or vertical
• Company size
• Geographic region
• Behavioral traits or interests

If you are unsure who your market is, click Suggest Audience and let HolyShift recommend one based on your description. This is a valid approach — your validation results will tell you whether the suggested audience is the right one.

Tip: Start narrow. It is better to validate with a tightly defined audience and get strong signals than to cast a wide net and get diluted results. You can always run a second validation with a different audience.

Step 5: Launch Validation

Review your project details and target market, then click Launch Validation. HolyShift begins finding and engaging real people in your market immediately.

Tip: Double-check your description one more time before launching. Once validation is live, the description is locked to ensure consistency across all conversations.

Step 6: Wait for Results

Validation takes 24 to 48 hours. During this window, HolyShift runs 500 to 1,000 real market conversations with people who match your target profile.

You will receive an email notification when your report is ready. There is nothing to do while you wait — go work on something else.

Tip: Resist the urge to check progress every hour. The report arrives when it is ready, and checking early does not speed things up. Use the waiting time to prepare for what you will do with the results.

Step 7: Review Your Pretotyping Signal Report

When your report is ready, open it from your project dashboard or click the link in your email notification. The report includes:

• Executive Summary — The headline: is there demand, and how strong is it?
• Demand Signals — Specific evidence of interest, scored by confidence.
• Risk Assessment — Market risks, objections, and red flags.
• Competitive Landscape — What your market already uses and pays for.
• Real User Language — The exact words and phrases people used to describe the problem.
• Recommended Next Steps — What to do based on the data.
• Build vs Don't Build Verdict — A clear recommendation backed by evidence.

Tip: Read the full report before making any decisions. The verdict is the headline, but the real value is in the details — the language people use, the objections they raise, and the competitors they mention. These details shape everything you do next.

What's Next

• Reading Your Report — Deep dive into every section of your Pretotyping Signal Report.
• Building a Landing Page — Turn validation results into a live page.
• Idea to Validation Workflow — The complete decision framework.
• Core Concepts — Understand the methodology behind your results.