⌘K
GETTING STARTED
FIND — Get an Idea
VALIDATE — Hit PMF (Phase 3)
UNIT ECONOMICS — First (Phase 4)
SCALE — Build to ₹1L/mo
AI & AUTOMATION
ANALYTICS & DATA
FINANCE
TOOLS & CALCULATORS
RESOURCES
VALIDATE — Kill Criteria
3
Pivot Attempts Max
Before killing the category
₹15K
Max Validation Burn
Per product idea across all tests
4 wks
Max Time
From idea to go/no-go decision
0
Paid Orders
Zero = kill immediately
₹50K+
saved by killing early
Founders who kill fast and start over outperform those who keep pushing dead ideas
| # | Kill Signal | What You See | Action | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zero paid orders after 2 ad campaigns | Ran ₹2,000-5,000 in ads. No one bought. | Kill or pivot category | Kill |
| 2 | CTR below 0.8% across 5+ creatives | People don't even click. The category or creative is wrong. | Pivot creative first. If still < 0.8%, kill product. | Kill |
| 3 | Signup rate below 2% on waitlist | People click but won't give their email or WhatsApp. | Pivot offer or price. If still < 2%, kill product. | Pivot |
| 4 | RTO rate above 40% | Product arrives but 40%+ of COD orders return. | Fix product/expectation gap. If stays > 40% after 2 batches, kill product. | Pivot |
| 5 | Contribution margin below 30% | After COGS, shipping, packaging, and RTO, per-order margin is too thin. | Try raising price. If market won't pay, kill product. | Pivot |
| 6 | ROAS below break-even after ₹8,000 spend | No combination of creative, audience, or offer makes ads profitable. | Pivot audience or creative once. Still no? Kill. | Kill |
| 7 | No repeat purchases in 60 days | People buy once and never come back. | Check product quality. If quality is fine, the market is too small. | Warn |
| 8 | Supplier cannot deliver consistent quality | Every batch has defects, inconsistent sizing, etc. | Find new supplier. If 3+ suppliers all fail, the product category is the problem. | Warn |
Stop now. No more money.
• Zero paid orders after 2 campaigns
• CTR < 0.8% on 5+ creatives
• Total validation burn > ₹15,000 with no signal
Try one change, then decide.
• Signup rate 2-5% (weak but present)
• RTO 30-40% (fixable with product changes)
• Margin 25-35% (thin but possible at higher price)
You have signals. Keep going.
• 10+ paid orders from strangers
• ROAS > 1.5x on first campaign
• 25%+ repeat rate or 3+ organic reviews
Killing an idea is not the end. It's the beginning of a better one. Go back to the FIND stage with everything you've learned.
Use what you learned. Which category had the most clicks? Which price point got signups? Which creative got engagement? Your failed validation is data for your next attempt.
If you pivot to a new product in the same category, you can skip the interest test — you already know the category has demand. Start from Intent Test.