Week 2 begins with deep market research, YC application prep, discovered 2:20:200 validation framework

date: 2025-06-30 time started: 8:38 AM time ended: 5:02 PM —

The New Format: WxDx for Better Perspective

Week 2, Day 1 begins with a new naming convention - WxDx indicating the week and day being worked on. This provides much better perspective on where we are moving ahead in the startup journey.

Week 1 Afterthoughts: Brutal Honesty

The Reality Check

  1. I’m a whole lotta confused
  2. Inferior at this point
  3. I have no idea as to what we need to be doing

The Unwavering Commitment

But I am not going to f** give up

Despite the confusion and feeling of inferiority, the determination to persevere remains strong.

Key Insights from Week 1

  • Use Reddit for market research too - expand beyond traditional channels
  • Let people know that you are trying to solve it - transparency builds trust
  • Keep things simple - integrate features as we get into them, don’t overcomplicate
  • About a month left to apply to YC - but don’t just keep it about YC
    • An investor is an investor
    • If YC sees potential, someone else does too

Pre-Day Tasks: Foundation Building

Completed Tasks

  • NCSU’s entrepreneurship garage - sending them an email about stuff you’d want to know
  • See if there is anything in AZ that gives you some funding for early age startups - because you heard that some places do it, like some sort of angel investment that you can get your hands dirty with

Today’s Task List: Strategic Execution

Morning Tasks (8:38 AM - 1:27 PM)

  • NCSU entrepreneurship garage (read about them and email them)
    • Update to task 1: doesn’t seem like the right time right now
  • AZ startup help (look a little bit more into this)
  • Market research
  • LETS POST ON REDDIT AND SEE WHAT PEOPLE THINK (seriously where people talk about hiring, about entry level jobs, about recruitment, anything at all)

Afternoon Tasks (2:00 PM - 5:00 PM)

  • Content production (colab + look at tools that help)
  • Scaffold stuff for the website - to be honest I’m kind of afraid of the website part. The AI agent not so much because I can build that. I’ve never dealt with a full stack webflow before so I don’t know
  • MVP to automate assessments at least? think about it
  • Email him - specific task mentioned in the original content

The JobSim AI MVP: A Quick Summary

What We Built

A job simulation platform that creates personalized work scenarios based on resumes and target roles, offering an alternative to traditional coding assessments.

Core Features:

  • Resume upload (PDF/DOCX/TXT) with drag-and-drop
  • AI-generated typical day scenarios and role simulations
  • Interactive assessments with progress tracking
  • Results dashboard with scoring and feedback
  • Modern React UI with responsive design

Tech Stack: Node.js + Express backend, React frontend, file processing for resumes

Current Limitations

  • Mock AI: Uses hardcoded responses instead of real AI
  • No Database: In-memory storage, data lost on restart
  • No Auth: No user accounts or sessions
  • Limited Roles: Optimized for software engineering only
  • Basic Scoring: Simple mock evaluation

Future Scope

  • Phase 1: Real AI integration (OpenAI API), database, user auth
  • Phase 2: Video assessments, collaboration features, company templates
  • Phase 3: Enterprise features, mobile app, advanced analytics
  • Phase 4: Multi-industry support, VR assessments, marketplace

Business Potential

Markets: Job seekers, career changers, students, companies, recruiters Revenue: Freemium model, B2B licensing, certification programs

Next Steps: Integrate OpenAI API, add PostgreSQL, implement user authentication, expand role types beyond software engineering.

Screenshot Reference

Note: Original content included a screenshot reference: “Screenshot 2025-06-30 at 08.58.07.png” - this appears to be related to the MVP or platform interface.

The Validation Challenge: How to Validate Your Idea

The Core Question

“I have no idea as to how I should validate my idea”

This fundamental question led to deep research and learning about proper validation techniques.

Key Resources and Insights

1. Building Something People Care About

Source: YouTube Video

Key Insights:

  • Building something that people care about is hard
  • 2:20:200 framework - different levels of validation effort
  • No such thing as 100% validation
  • If you don’t speak to customers now, how do you plan on speaking to them once you’ve built your product?
  • But if you can get an MVP out quick, you can probably use that to get your idea validated!
  • 11-40 YES’s before you start building
  • 2 hour validation - just reaching out
  • 20 hour validation - reaching out with an MVP
  • 200 hour validation process - building an MVP
  • Curse of the audience - might not always reflect what they want

2. Startup Ideas and Customer Needs

Source: YouTube Video

3. Paul Graham’s Startup Ideas

Source: Paul Graham - Startup Ideas

Key Insights:

“Why do so many founders build things no one wants? Because they begin by trying to think of startup ideas. That m.o. is doubly dangerous: it doesn’t merely yield few good ideas; it yields bad ideas that sound plausible enough to fool you into working on them.”

“When a startup launches, there have to be at least some users who really need what they’re making — not just people who could see themselves using it one day, but who want it urgently.”

“You can either build something a large number of people want a small amount, or something a small number of people want a large amount. Choose the latter. Not all ideas of that type are good startup ideas, but nearly all good startup ideas are of that type.”

“You can either dig a hole that’s broad but shallow, or one that’s narrow and deep, like a well. Made-up startup ideas are usually of the first type.”

The Epiphany:

“NOW I GET IT - you need to speak to customers first because, you can build and make money based off of what they need and not what you want to sell to them”

“If you’re at the leading edge of a field that’s changing fast, when you have a hunch that something is worth doing, you’re more likely to be right.”

The Goal:

“This is what I want out of this - I want to make something people use, I want to make money out of this, and I will. Even if I have to abandon my idea completely and do something else.”

The Action Plan: Reaching Audiences Quickly

The Strategy

“So what do we do now? We need to reach audiences. Soon. Quickly and speak to them which means speaking to recruiters. Let’s cold email the shit out of them”

ChatGPT Investor Advice Integration

The detailed investor simulation provided comprehensive guidance on:

Understanding the Problem: Why the Hiring Pipeline Feels Broken

  • Only 26% of job seekers report having a great candidate experience
  • 13% had such terrible experiences they refuse to apply again
  • 65% of candidates receive no consistent communication
  • 40% report being “ghosted” after later interview rounds
  • 49% say application processes are too long and complicated
  • 60% of applicants will drop out if the process is too complex

Market Landscape: Hiring is Ripe for Innovation

  • 82% of businesses use pre-employment tests
  • Companies spend tens of billions on recruiting services annually
  • 56% of employers now use skill tests (growing trend)
  • Existing solutions address pieces but no one has fully cracked the code

Defining the Solution and Unique Value Proposition

For Recruiters:

  • Efficiency: Save time designing tests from scratch
  • Quality of Hire: Data-driven hiring decisions
  • Realism: Job preview functionality
  • Employer Branding: Better candidate experience
  • Reduction of Bias: AI-driven, skills-focused assessments

For Candidates:

  • “Let me show what I can do” opportunity
  • Fair evaluation based on actual ability
  • Learning experience and job preview
  • Immediate feedback and performance summary

Validation Strategy

  • Talk to 20+ recruiters and candidates
  • Look for genuine excitement or relief
  • Identify “desperate” needs vs. minor pains
  • Gauge willingness to pay/adopt
  • Prototype with Wizard-of-Oz MVP
  • Secure pilot customers for real-world testing

Scalability and Business Model

  • Technical scalability through cloud AI services
  • B2B SaaS model with per-seat or per-assessment pricing
  • Large addressable market (tens of billions globally)
  • Network effects through data accumulation

Building Business Acumen

  • Educate yourself continuously (The Lean Startup, The Mom Test, etc.)
  • Find mentors/advisors
  • Consider a co-founder
  • Develop skills by doing
  • Time management and organization
  • Financial planning
  • Competition and moat building
  • Recruiter adoption strategies
  • Bias and fairness concerns
  • Length and candidate experience balance
  • Execution speed vs. quality
  • Financial runway planning

Next Steps: Immediate Action Plan

The Email Strategy

  1. Get an email list of technical recruiters for now
    • Target cold emailing at least 100 people today (59 people found)
    • Send a survey to individuals that apply (tonight) - going to be thinking about this at 9 AM

Lunch Break: 1:27 PM - 2:00 PM

Afternoon Focus: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

  • Continue with the email outreach
  • Develop the survey for job applicants (thinking about this at 9 AM)
  • Work on content production and website scaffolding
  • Plan the MVP automation for assessments

Key Insights from W2D1

The Validation Mindset

The research and investor advice reinforced the importance of customer discovery before building. The 2:20:200 framework provides a clear roadmap for validation efforts.

The Customer-First Approach

The epiphany about speaking to customers first transforms the approach from “build and hope they come” to “understand what they need and build that.”

The Execution Focus

With a month left to YC applications, the focus shifts to rapid execution and validation rather than perfect planning.

The Persistence Factor

Despite confusion and feeling inferior, the commitment to not give up remains the driving force.

The Journey Continues

W2D1 has been about transitioning from week 1’s confusion to week 2’s focused execution. The investor advice provided a comprehensive framework for validation, while the new naming convention offers better perspective on progress.

The key insight from today: Validation comes before building, and customer needs drive product development, not founder assumptions.

W2D1 complete. The path to customer validation begins.

Resources and References

This post is part of my startup journey documentation. Follow along as I navigate the challenges of building an AI startup from scratch.

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