A real-time experiment in rapid idea triage, complete with numbers you can copy tonight.
We’ve all been there. Stuck in “idea limbo.” You have a dozen business ideas, but you spend months agonizing over which one to pursue. You’re paralyzed by the fear of building something nobody wants.
I was tired of the cycle. So, I decided to run a brutal, no-excuses experiment: find 10 business ideas on Reddit and validate them—not in a month, but in 48 hours.
The goal wasn’t to build a business in a weekend. It was to find a signal in the noise. To see which ideas had real, aching, paying customers behind them.
Here was my simple, 3-step framework:
1. The Hunt: Find problems, not ideas. I scoured niche subreddits like r/smallbusiness, r/Entrepreneur, and hyper-specific ones like r/woodworking and r/PPC.
2. The Filter: I was looking for posts where someone was:
Complaining about a tedious task.
Asking "Is there a tool for…?" or "How do I…?"
Wishing for a simple solution to a common problem.
3. The Test: For each idea, I would spend a maximum of 4 hours building a simple "smoke test." This meant a one-page website and a "Buy Now" or "Get on Waitlist" button. No product was built. I then drove a tiny amount of targeted traffic (usually just a reply on the original Reddit thread) to see if anyone would click.
The results were shocking. Here’s the breakdown of 5 of the 10 ideas I tested.
The Flops: Ideas That Crashed and Burned
Idea #1: The "Instagram Hashtag Guru" SaaS
The Reddit Spark: A post in r/socialmedia complaining about the time it takes to find high-performing hashtags.
The 4-Hour Test:A landing page for "HashtagHive," promising AI-powered hashtag recommendations. "Get Notified at Launch" button.
The Result: 52 visitors, 0 sign-ups. 0% Conversion.
The Truth: While it’s a real problem, it’s a crowded space. My meager test couldn’t compete with established free tools. People weren’t ‘in enough pain’ to try a new, unproven solution.
Idea #2: A Custom "LinkedIn Post Generator" for Sales Teams
The Reddit Spark: A comment in r/sales about how writing daily content is a drain.
The 4-Hour Test: A page targeting sales managers, offering a tool to generate personalized posts for their team. "Schedule a Demo" button.
The Result: 38 visitors, 1 sign-up (which later canceled). 2.6% Conversion.
The Truth:This might have potential, but my targeting was off. A "Schedule a Demo" is a high-commitment ask for a problem people don’t prioritize. A free tool sign-up would have been a better test.
The Winners: Signals of Real Demand
Idea #3: "PDF-to-Audiobook" Converter for Self-Publishers
The Reddit Spark: In r/selfpublish, an author asked if there was a cheap way to turn their eBook into an audiobook without recording it themselves.
The 4-Hour Test: A simple page with samples of a high-quality AI voice reading a book excerpt. A "Convert Your First 10 Pages for $5" button.
The Result: 45 visitors, 4 sales.9% Conversion.
The Verdict:VALIDATED. I had to manually process these in a text-to-speech tool, but it proved people would pay to solve this friction point immediately.
Idea #4: "Done-For-You" Google Business Profile Posts for Local Restaurants**
The Reddit Spark:** A restaurant owner in r/restaurantowners lamented that they never have time to post updates and promotions on their Google profile.
The 4-Hour Test: A landing page offering a 2-week free trial of weekly, custom-written posts for their Google Business Profile.
The Result: 28 visitors (all from a single, well-placed comment), 3 sign-ups.11% Conversion.
The Verdict: VALIDATED. This service is incredibly simple to deliver but solves a massive time-suck for a busy owner. The high conversion rate on a cold audience screamed opportunity.
Idea #5: A Curated "Remote Work Gear" Store for Digital Nomads
The Reddit Spark: Countless threads in r/digitalnomad asking "What’s the best portable monitor?" or "Which backpack do you use?"
The 4-Hour Test: I didn’t build a full store. I built a single product page for the #1 recommended portable monitor, with a great description and a "Buy Now" button linked to my Amazon Affiliate account.
The Result: 110 visitors from a helpful "guide" I posted, 3 affiliate sales totaling $27 in commission.
The Verdict:VALIDATED.This proved that curation and trust in a noisy market have value. I wasn’t even selling my own product, and I made money.
The Numbers You Can Steal
After 48 hours, here’s the final tally:
Total Ideas Tested: 10
Clear Flops: 6
Signs of Life: 1
Validated Winners: 3
Total Revenue Generated:$47
Total Cost: A domain name ($12) and a few hours of my time.
he One Lesson That Changes Everything
You don’t need a business plan. You need a ‘conversation with the market.’
Spending 48 hours in public, testing real ideas with real people, taught me more than 6 months of private planning. The goal of validation isn’t to be right; it’s to be wrong, quickly and cheaply, until you find the one thing that sticks.
Your homework tonight isn’t to build a business. It’s to find one problem on Reddit and see if 3 out of 50 people care enough to click a button.
The data is waiting for you. Go get it.
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