Dumb or Smart? The 6-question idea check + 3 ways to price it

The 6-question idea check: 1. Could someone rebuild this in a weekend with AI? 2. Does it do the job, or just store the job? 3. Does it get better with every user? 4. Do you own the data it creates? 5. Is there a community or audience around it? 6. Can you charge per result instead of per seat? Mostly yeses on 2-6 and a no on 1 = smart software. Three price models: per use (per task or per amount of AI used), per result (charge only when it works, like Intercom Fin's $0.99 per outcome), monthly fee for a human service on top (like a weekly coach).

Step by step

1. Here's how to use all this if you build alone.
2. Step one. Don't build a copy of a basic tool. If you'd describe your idea as a simpler version of some tracker or dashboard, assume someone will give it away free.
3. Step two. Pick one niche and one job. Not a CRM. Something like: follow up every new lead for a dog groomer, the same day. The agent does the job. The screen is just the window.
4. Step three. Own the data. Every job your tool does should make the next one better: the templates, the replies that worked, the answers your users rated. That's the part a copycat can't download.
5. Step four. Build the community around it. A free version, a group or a newsletter, people who help each other. That's an audience you own.
6. Step five. Price the result, not the login. Three models. Per use: charge per task, or per amount of AI used. Per result: charge only when it works, like Intercom's ninety-nine cents. Or a monthly fee for a human service on top, like that weekly coach.
7. Honestly, per result is the scary one. You only get paid when it works. Which is exactly why customers trust it.
8. Before you build, run your idea through these six questions. One. Could someone rebuild this in a weekend with AI? Two. Does it do the job, or just store the job? Three. Does it get better with every user? Four. Do you own the data it creates? Five. Is there a community or audience around it? Six. Can you charge per result instead of per seat?
9. Mostly yeses on two to six, and a no on the first one? You're building smart software.