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Validation

We validate every capstone project in the AI Academy using a single core philosophy: Deletion. Deletion the disciplined practice of removing everything unnecessary so only the essentials remain. If you want a full write-up, see the original article: https://anote-ai.medium.com/deletion-a-philosophy-for-building-great-things-bd08378d3f23

Is This Worth Building?

Before anything gets started, we ask whether this thing should exist:

  1. Does this solve a clear problem? It's helpful to define the before vs. after state of what life is like without the solution, versus with the solution, that way you can identify the value add.

  2. Does anyone want this solution? It's helpful to list out specific names of people and / or companies who want what you are creating, as well as why they want it.

  3. How will you reach the people who want the solution? It's helpful to identify how you will get in contact, find, market or reach out to the people who want the solution?

  4. Will anyone pay for this solution? It's helpful to talk to people to understand whether what you are building will add enough value for people to pay for the resulting product.

  5. Can the end solution be stated concretely? It's helpful to define specifications of what the end product, solution and success state of the deliverable look like? This could be via a figma, sketch or written memo.

  6. Does it survive scrutiny over time? It's helpful to spend some extended time reflecting on the idea. If the idea still matters and is important to you after sustained period of thinking time, it earns a shot.

What Are the Minimum Essentials to Go from 0 to 1?

Once validated, we strip the project down to its core:

  1. List everything required — Create a TODO list of everything.
  2. Remove all non-essentials - Delete any TODO that is not needed.
  3. Prioritize and timestamp - Set deadlines for the must have TODOs.
  4. Ignore distractions — nothing outside the core TODOs gets built.

This ensures we focus on what moves the needle, enabling real progress from 0 to 1.