How it works
Five layers. One honest verdict.
Valdorro is an interrogation engine for startup ideas. You describe the idea you are considering; the engine runs it through five layers of structured cross-examination — assumptions, market, failure modes, validation, and you as the founder — and returns a single verdict on whether it is worth building. It argues against the idea on purpose. The point is to find the fault that would have cost you six months, before you spend them.
- 1
Your founder profile
Already doneYou filled this in when you signed up — your background, skills, past attempts, how you like to work. It's used in layer 5 of the interrogation to judge whether you can pull this idea off, and to pick tests you can actually run.
- 2
Your idea
You describe your startup idea in a few lines — what it is, who it's for, and how it would make money.
- 3
The interrogation
Valdorro puts your idea through five layers of hard questions, each one hunting a different way ideas fail. See the five below.
- 4
The verdict
One straight answer at the end — Kill, Pivot, or Prove. Each is explained below.
- 5
Your report
The full write-up you keep. Your verdict sits at the top of it, in the Overview section — followed by every finding and the tests to run next. Download as PDF anytime.
- 6
Record your evidence
LaterAfter you've actually run those tests, you come back and record what happened. Real evidence earns your report a permanent Validated badge.
Inside the interrogation — the five layers
- 1Assumptions
Every idea quietly assumes some things are true. This layer drags them into the open and asks which ones would sink you if they turned out false.
- 2Market
Who else is already doing this, is anyone actually paying for it, and is the market big enough to bother? Backed by real web evidence, with sources.
- 3Pre-mortem
A post-mortem asks why something died after it dies. A pre-mortem does it in advance: imagine it's 18 months from now and your idea has failed — then work backwards to name the most likely reasons, while there's still time to avoid them.
- 4Validation
Turns the doubts into a to-do list — cheap real-world tests that would prove or disprove the riskiest parts, deadliest one first. Examples below.
- 5Founder fit
Uses your profile from Step 1: can you — your skills, time, money, network — actually pull this off? A good idea in the wrong hands still fails.
The three verdicts
The evidence contradicts an assumption the idea cannot stand without, and there is no credible way around it. The report names exactly what sinks it.
One specific part of the idea does not work on the evidence, and a different direction has clearly stronger support. Often it is who you sell to, the problem you solve, or how you charge.
The idea still holds up, but the assumptions it depends on most have not been tested yet. That is not the same as proven, so you get the tests to run before you put in more time or money.
What the tests look like
- 1
Talk to 10 people who'd actually pay. Do they describe the problem the way you do? Free · about a week.
- 2
Put up a one-page offer and send a small ad to it. Does anyone click and leave an email? A small ad budget · a few days.
- 3
Ask three people to pay in advance. Money is the only honest yes. Free · a week or two.
Your report gives you your own tests, not these samples — each with how to run it, what it costs, how long it takes, and the result that means stop.
One credit runs one interrogation. The report, the PDF, and recording your test results are all included — nothing extra to pay.
Also worth knowing
Each layer reads the summaries of the ones before it, so the market findings inform the pre-mortem, and the pre-mortem informs which tests are worth running. Nothing is analysed in isolation.
Alongside the verdict, the report carries a 0–100 readiness score and a layer-by-layer breakdown of everything the interrogation found. Every report can be exported and kept.
Or write to support@valdorro.com.