Field Tool

Business Idea Quick Screen

A 20-point field checklist for deciding what deserves more time, money, or testing.

Paul Bruemmer’s synthesis — informed by ideas from Chris Koerner and Steven Bartlett; not an official scoring system.

Evaluation Details

Checklist

Score each question: 0 = weak/unknown, 1 = mixed, 2 = strong. Maximum 20.

  1. 01

    Can we test it cheaply?

    0 =
    Requires significant upfront spend
    1 =
    Moderate cost to test
    2 =
    Very low-cost / near-zero-cost test
  2. 02

    Can we test it quickly?

    0 =
    Months before useful feedback
    1 =
    Weeks
    2 =
    Days or hours
  3. 03

    Is there proven demand or a working model?

    0 =
    Little evidence anyone pays for this
    1 =
    Adjacent or partial evidence
    2 =
    Existing buyers/competitors clearly validate demand
  4. 04

    Can we get a real market signal before fully building?

    0 =
    Hard to test without building most of it
    1 =
    Proxy feedback is possible
    2 =
    Direct behavior, inquiries, trials, usage, or purchases can be tested first
  5. 05

    Do we have a right to win / unfair advantage?

    0 =
    No obvious advantage
    1 =
    Some relevant experience, access, or insight
    2 =
    Strong domain knowledge, audience, relationships, distribution, or unique insight
  6. 06

    Is the model replicable?

    0 =
    Highly bespoke every time
    1 =
    Some reusable components
    2 =
    Build once, repeat / clone across customers or markets
  7. 07

    Can it stay operationally lean?

    0 =
    Labor- or employee-heavy from the start
    1 =
    Some ongoing staffing/operations
    2 =
    Zero-employee or very small-team model is realistic
  8. 08

    Is customer access practical?

    0 =
    No clear path to buyers
    1 =
    Buyers are reachable but expensive or fragmented
    2 =
    Clear channel, existing audience, aggregator, intermediary, or repeatable acquisition path
  9. 09

    Is there a favorable market tailwind?

    0 =
    Shrinking market or structural headwind
    1 =
    Neutral / uncertain
    2 =
    Strong technology, demographic, regulatory, or behavioral tailwind
  10. 10

    Is there evidence of pull or momentum?

    0 =
    Demand will likely need constant pushing
    1 =
    Mixed early signals
    2 =
    Customers/demand appear to pull the business forward

Red Flags — investigate before proceeding

These are not points and do not change the numerical score.

This version stores the current evaluation only in this browser. Nothing is submitted to a database.