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This is an example of a filled 2h evaluation template.

Last updated: March 24, 2025

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2h validation | KYC Form Service (April 2025)

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Instructions

  1. Duplicate this page
    1. Change the title to format "2h validation | [idea keywords/short description] ([date])"
  2. Fill A. to D.
  3. Then, think through, comment, and score 1.-6. (Walling's 5PM)

    Place the score at the end of the section heading:

    🚫🚫🚫🚫 (deal breaker)

    ⭐🚫🚫🚫 (danger)

    ⭐⭐🚫🚫 (not optimal, but manageable)

    ⭐⭐⭐🚫 (good, but not perfect)

    ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (excellent)

  4. Write the summary.

Notes

A. to C. are for general research on the subject.

1.-6. are partly based on the results of A. to C.

A. Idea description

B. Potential search keywords, difficulties, and traffic

Use, e.g., Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to find potential keywords and their traffic and difficulty.

No relevant search terms with traffic were identified. This suggests potential customers may not be actively searching online for this type of solution. (Or that I didn't find the right keywords.)

Main keywords searched:

C. Potential marketing channels. How to reach potential customers?

Problem: Most who need this already have solved it. If the current solution works, why would they switch? How many are looking for new solution, and how can we find these businesses and people?

D. Competitors, existing solutions

1. Problem ⭐⭐🚫🚫

Not very important Important
Aspirin E.g., a file renaming utility (not a very important problem, but still a problem that is a pain to be solved now. Someone might need this to get their job done, but this is just a minor part of it and there are alternatives) best ideas

E.g., Zoom (Remote communication is a significant problem that many users need a solution for to get their jobs done.)
Vitamin worst ideas

E.g., Desktop wallpaper organizer (cosmetic, not needed to get a real job done) 		E.g., professional development course (important topic, but this is likely not a fix for a short-term acute problem, but an ambiguous investment into the future.)
  • Is it important and an aspirin?
  • Is this a real problem?
  • Did you come up with a solution or a problem first? "Don't tell me what your idea is. Tell me what problem it solves."

KYC is a regulatory requirement (important) and potentially urgent for compliance reasons. However:

  • The form is just a small part of the overall KYC process
  • Unclear if standardization is possible given varied customer needs
  • Questionable benefit over generic form solutions
  • Main value would need to be in customization or integration with compliance workflows

2. Purchaser ⭐⭐🚫🚫

  • Does this market adopt new technology?
  • Do they have the willingness or ability to pay? a.k.a. price sensitivity.
  • Sophistication
    • B2C - consumer
    • B2A - "aspirational," such as photographers or bloggers
    • B2B - business
    • B2E - enterprise (long sales cycles, fewer deals, large deals)

Generally, avoid B2C (and B2A). Go for B2B.

  • B2B market (funds, accounting firms, small financial companies)
  • Financial organizations may have long sales cycles(?)
  • May be slow to adopt new technology due to regulatory concerns(?)
  • Likely have budget for compliance solutions; willing and able to pay for a solution if they have a need.
  • Critical concern: Proving trustworthiness to handle sensitive KYC data

3. Pricing model ⭐⭐⭐🚫

  • Subscription or not?
  • ARPA Estimate
  • Monthly, annual, share of revenue, etc.
  • Monthly or annual subscription model
  • Tiered pricing based on number of KYC forms processed
  • Potential for add-on services (compliance reporting, data verification)
  • Estimated ARPA: $200-500/month for small businesses
  • Annual contracts with discounts to improve cash flow and reduce churn

4. Market ⭐🚫🚫🚫

  • Size - Total Reachable Market
  • Ease of reaching customers (are they online?)
  • Is the market early or mature? Growing, flat, or declining?
    • What part of the market is actively searching for a new solution? Can we address mainly the newcomers (needs a growing market)? Are the users of an existing solution willing to switch (a smaller and flat market could be fine)?
  • Competition (How much? Big companies or other startups?)
    • Remember that competitors could be a good sign. However, if the space is crowded and there are established, well-marketed products that the users like, that's a bad sign.
  • No evidence of online search volume - potentially concerning
  • Market size difficult to estimate without further research
  • Target customers likely have established KYC processes already
  • Competitors exist but are enterprise-focused, leaving potential gap for small business solution
  • KYC regulatory requirements generally increasing, potentially growing market
  • Direct outreach needed to validate actual market need and size

5. Product-founder fit ⭐⭐🚫🚫

  • What about your background and access to this market makes you think you are the right person to build this?
  • If this idea is highly technical, do you have the tech chops?
  • If this idea is a crowded space, do you have marketing chops?
  • Founder's unique advantage
    • Audience
    • Network
  • Do you love this problem?
  • Technical implementation feasible with existing skills
  • Limited knowledge of customer workflows and specific KYC requirements
  • No existing network in financial industry
  • I don't have specific passion for solving this problem, but working adjacent to finance sector could be interesting.

6. Pain to validate ⭐🚫🚫🚫

  • How easy would the next validation steps be?
  • Time to market/MVP
  • Pain of building
  • Next step: Email outreach to Finnish companies with KYC needs
  • Relatively straightforward to create basic form solution MVP. However, I don't know about potential backend needs, or compliance requirements for B2B software in this niche.
  • Would need security and compliance features from the start
  • Integration with existing customer systems could be complex, and could need custom solutions per customer.
  • Validation requires direct conversations with potential customers

Summary

  • Overall score based on the individual scores. This is not just an average. Some subjective weighting is possible.
  • What are the biggest unknowns and uncertainties? What would need to be validated next (concretely)?
  • If the idea works, what would be the biggest cons of the business?
  • EV (Expected value, or, ICE score = Impact * Confidence * Ease)
    • Likelihood of Success – A rough probability estimate of the idea working out.
    • Potential Return – The financial upside if the idea succeeds.
    • Effort or Cost to Execute – The resources (money, time) needed to make it happen.

Overall Score: ⭐⭐🚫🚫 (Not optimal, but potentially viable with further validation)

Biggest unknowns/uncertainties:

  • Actual market need - do small businesses really want to outsource just the KYC form component? Would the solution need to contain also backend components?
  • Specific requirements and workflows of target customers
  • Regulatory complexities in EU, US, and across different jurisdictions. We would likely start by targeting just EU.

Next validation steps:

  • Contact Finnish small/medium businesses with KYC requirements
  • Conduct 5-10 interviews to understand current processes and pain points
  • Identify what aspects of KYC process are most problematic

Potential cons if successful:

  • Regulatory compliance burden for handling sensitive KYC data
  • Need for continuous updates as regulations change
  • Potentially high customer support requirements
  • Security and liability concerns

EV Analysis:

  • Likelihood of Success: Medium-Low (20%) - Uncertain market demand
  • Potential Return: Unknown reachable market size - Good ARPA
  • Effort to Execute: Medium-High - Technical implementation plus regulatory compliance
  • Overall EV: Moderate - Requires additional validation before committing significant resources