The 'Kill It' Checklist: 10 Signs Your Idea Should Die

Founders are optimists by nature. We see opportunity where others see obstacles.

But sometimes, that optimism blinds us to fatal flaws.

Here are 10 objective signals that your idea should be killed—not pivoted, not "tried differently," but completely abandoned.

The Kill Checklist ☠️

1. You Can't Explain the Problem in One Sentence

If you need a paragraph to describe the problem you're solving, you don't understand it well enough—or it doesn't exist.

Test: Can a stranger understand your problem statement in under 10 seconds?

2. Your Target Customer Doesn't Exist

"Small business owners who also do their own accounting and are frustrated with Excel but won't pay for QuickBooks" is not a market segment. It's a unicorn.

Test: Can you name 10 specific people (not types) who have this problem?

3. The Pain is Infrequent

Problems people face once a year don't create sustainable businesses. Churn will kill you.

Red flags:

• "When they move to a new city..."
• "During tax season..."
• "When they're planning a wedding..."

4. Free Alternatives Are "Good Enough"

If spreadsheets, email, or a junior employee can solve the problem, your product needs to be 10x better.

Ask: What's the current workaround, and is it actually painful?

5. The Market is Too Small

$10M total addressable market means you're fighting for scraps. Do the math.

Formula: (# of potential customers) × (realistic price point) × (market share you can capture)

6. Distribution is Impossible

Great products still fail without distribution.

Warning signs:

• Target customers are offline
• No obvious community or watering hole
• Requires enterprise sales but you're a solo founder

7. Margins Don't Work

If it costs you $50 to acquire a customer who pays $10/month and churns in 3 months, you lose $20 per customer.

Do the math before you build.

8. You're Not the Right Founder

Sometimes great ideas + wrong founders = failure.

Honest questions:

• Do you have relevant expertise?
• Do you have access to the market?
• Can you survive the timeline to profitability?

9. Timing is Wrong

Too early = you're educating the market on someone else's dime. Too late = incumbents have insurmountable advantages.

Look for: Recent catalyst events, regulatory changes, technology shifts.

10. Your Gut Says No

After all the analysis, if something feels fundamentally wrong, trust it.

Founders who ignore this often say: "I knew it wouldn't work, but I kept going anyway."

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The Hardest Decision

Killing an idea feels like failure. But it's actually the smartest thing you can do.

Every month spent on a doomed idea is a month you could have spent on the right one.

The best founders kill ideas quickly. They don't get attached. They move on.

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Get an Objective Second Opinion

Don't let emotion cloud your judgment. Our AI doesn't care about your feelings—it only cares about the data.

Run your idea through the Kill Checklist in 30 seconds.