Quick Start Guide
Launch your first validation in five steps.
[Live]
Overview
Getting from idea to validated demand takes minutes to set up and 24 to 48 hours to complete. HolyShift handles the hard part — finding your market, running the conversations, and analyzing the results. You just need to describe what you want to build and who you want to build it for.
This guide walks you through the full process from creating a project to reviewing your Pretotyping Signal Report.
How to Use It
Step 1: Create a Project and Describe Your Idea
Start a new project in HolyShift and write a clear description of your product or service. Include:
- What it does — The core functionality or value proposition.
- Who it is for — The type of person or business that would use it.
- What problem it solves — The specific pain point you are addressing.
- How it makes money — Your intended pricing model or revenue approach.
The more specific you are, the more targeted and useful your results will be. "An app for tracking expenses" is too vague. "A mobile app that automatically categorizes business expenses for freelance designers who spend less than 30 minutes per month on bookkeeping" gives HolyShift something concrete to test.
Step 2: Define Your Target Market
Tell HolyShift who your ideal customers are. You can specify demographics, job titles, industries, company sizes, geographic regions, or behavioral traits.
If you are not sure who your market is, HolyShift can suggest a target audience based on your product description. This is often a good starting point — the validation results will tell you whether that audience actually resonates with your idea.
Step 3: Launch Validation
Review your project details and target market, then launch. HolyShift begins finding and engaging real people in your target market immediately.
Step 4: Wait for Results
Validation typically takes 24 to 48 hours. HolyShift runs 500 to 1,000 real market conversations during this window. You will receive an email notification when your report is ready.
You do not need to stay logged in or monitor progress. Go work on something else — HolyShift will notify you.
Step 5: Review Your Pretotyping Signal Report
When validation completes, your full report is available in your project dashboard and delivered to your inbox. The report includes:
- Executive Summary — The headline takeaway.
- Demand Signals — Evidence of interest, scored by confidence level.
- Risk Assessment — Market risks, objections, and red flags.
- Competitive Landscape — What your market currently uses and pays for.
- Real User Language — Exact phrases your audience used to describe the problem.
- Recommended Next Steps — What to do with these results.
- Build vs Don't Build Verdict — A data-backed recommendation.
Feature Details
- Project creation — Guided input flow that helps you articulate your idea clearly.
- Market suggestion — AI-powered audience recommendation if you are unsure who to target.
- Automated outreach — HolyShift finds and engages your target market without manual effort.
- Email notification — Get notified the moment your validation completes.
- Full report access — Available in-app and via email, ready to share with co-founders and investors.
FAQ
Can I edit my project description after launching? No. Once validation is live, the description is locked to ensure consistency across all conversations. If you want to test a different angle, create a new project.
What if HolyShift cannot find enough people in my target market? For very niche markets, HolyShift may run fewer than 500 conversations. Your report will note the sample size and adjust confidence scores accordingly.
Do I need to prepare anything beyond the product description? No, but adding context helps. See Best Practices for tips on writing descriptions that produce stronger results.
What's Next
- Best Practices — Write better descriptions and get stronger results.
- Understanding Your Report — Learn how to interpret every section.
- Demand Signals Deep Dive — Understand the evidence behind your scores.