Faion Researcher

Research Domain Skill

Communication: User's language. Docs: English.

Purpose

Orchestrate all research and discovery activities for product/startup development. This domain skill combines idea discovery, product research, and project naming into a unified research workflow.

Agents (2)

Mode Mapping:

Methodologies (20)

This skill references 20 research methodologies:

Note: Full methodology details available in methodologies/ folder.

Section 1: Idea Discovery

Workflow

1. Gather Context (AskUserQuestion)
   - Skills, interests, resources
   ↓
2. Generate Ideas (faion-research-agent mode: ideas)
   - Apply 7 Ps framework + other methods
   ↓
3. User Selection (AskUserQuestion)
   - Pick 3-5 ideas to research
   ↓
4. Pain Point Research (faion-research-agent mode: pains)
   - Reddit, forums, reviews mining
   ↓
5. Niche Evaluation (faion-research-agent mode: niche)
   - Market size, competition, barriers
   ↓
6. Present Results
   ↓
   User selects idea? → YES → Write to product_docs/idea-validation.md
                     → NO  → Loop back to step 2

Phase 1: Gather Context

Use AskUserQuestion:

Question 1: "What are your skills/experience?"
Options:
- Software development
- Design/UX
- Marketing/Sales
- Domain expertise (specific industry)

Question 2: "What motivates you?"
Options:
- Solve my own problem
- Big market opportunity
- Passion project
- Side income

Question 3: "How much time can you invest?"
Options:
- Nights & weekends (side project)
- Part-time (20h/week)
- Full-time

Phase 2: Generate Ideas

Call faion-research-agent (mode: ideas) agent:

Task(
    subagent_type="faion-research-agent (mode: ideas)",
    prompt=f"""Generate startup ideas for:
    Skills: {skills}
    Motivation: {motivation}
    Time commitment: {time}

    Use frameworks: 7 Ps, Paul Graham, Personal Pain Points
    Generate 15-20 ideas across categories.
    """,
    description="Generate startup ideas"
)

Phase 3: User Selection

Present ideas grouped by category. Use AskUserQuestion:

Question: "Which ideas do you want to research deeper?"
multiSelect: true
Options:
- {idea1} - {category}
- {idea2} - {category}
- {idea3} - {category}
- {idea4} - {category}
- "None, generate different ones"

Phase 4: Pain Point Research

For each selected idea, call faion-research-agent (mode: pains):

Task(
    subagent_type="faion-research-agent (mode: pains)",
    prompt=f"""Research pain points for: {idea}

    Search:
    - Reddit complaints: "problem with {keyword}" site:reddit.com
    - Forum discussions: "{keyword} frustrating" OR "{keyword} hate"
    - App store reviews: "{competitor} review" 1-star

    Find: frequency, intensity, existing solutions, gaps
    """,
    description="Research pain points"
)

Phase 5: Niche Evaluation

For ideas with validated pain points, call faion-research-agent (mode: niche):

Task(
    subagent_type="faion-research-agent (mode: niche)",
    prompt=f"""Evaluate niche for: {idea}

    Criteria:
    - Market size (TAM/SAM/SOM estimates)
    - Competition level (red/blue ocean)
    - Entry barriers (technical, regulatory, capital)
    - Profitability potential (unit economics)
    - Your fit (skills match)

    Score each 1-10, provide total score.
    """,
    description="Evaluate niche viability"
)

Phase 6: Present Results & Decision

Show evaluation results. Use AskUserQuestion:

Question: "Evaluation results. What's next?"
Options:
- {idea1} (score: 42/50) - select for development
- {idea2} (score: 38/50) - select for development
- Generate new ideas
- Research other niches for {ideaX}

Phase 7: Write to Documentation

When user selects idea, create aidocs/sdd/{project}/product_docs/idea-validation.md:

# Idea Validation: {idea_name}

## Summary
- **Problem:** {pain point}
- **Solution:** {proposed solution}
- **Target audience:** {who}

## Pain Point Evidence
- Source 1: {quote, link}
- Source 2: {quote, link}

## Niche Evaluation
| Criterion | Score | Notes |
|-----------|-------|-------|
| Market size | X/10 | {notes} |
| Competition | X/10 | {notes} |
| Barriers | X/10 | {notes} |
| Profitability | X/10 | {notes} |
| Fit | X/10 | {notes} |
| **Total** | **XX/50** | |

## Next Steps
- [ ] Customer interviews
- [ ] MVP definition
- [ ] Create spec.md

7 Ps of Ideation Framework

Paul Graham's Questions

• What's tedious but necessary?
• What's surprisingly hard to do?
• What do you find yourself building for yourself?
• What would you pay for that doesn't exist?

Personal Pain Points

• Problems you face daily
• Complaints you make often
• Workarounds you've built
• Tools you wish were better

Niche Evaluation Criteria

Total score interpretation:

• 40-50: Excellent opportunity
• 30-39: Good potential
• 20-29: Proceed with caution
• <20: Consider other ideas

Section 2: Product Research

Workflow

1. Parse project from ARGUMENTS
2. Read: constitution.md, roadmap.md
3. AskUserQuestion: modules + mode (quick/deep)
4. Run agents SEQUENTIALLY (not parallel)
5. Write executive-summary.md

Module Selection

AskUserQuestion(
    questions=[{
        "question": "Which modules to run?",
        "multiSelect": True,
        "options": [
            {"label": "Market Research", "description": "TAM/SAM/SOM, trends"},
            {"label": "Competitors", "description": "Features, pricing"},
            {"label": "Personas", "description": "Pain points, JTBD"},
            {"label": "Validation", "description": "Problem evidence"},
            {"label": "Pricing", "description": "Benchmarks"}
        ]
    }]
)

Execution

AGENTS = {
    "market": "faion-research-agent (mode: market)",
    "competitors": "faion-research-agent (mode: competitors)",
    "personas": "faion-research-agent (mode: personas)",
    "validation": "faion-research-agent (mode: validate)",
    "pricing": "faion-research-agent (mode: pricing)"
}

for module in selected_modules:
    Task(
        subagent_type=AGENTS[module],
        prompt=f"""
PROJECT: {project}
PRODUCT: {product_description}
MODE: {quick|deep}
OUTPUT: aidocs/sdd/{project}/product_docs/{output_file}
"""
    )

Output Structure

aidocs/sdd/{project}/product_docs/
├── market-research.md
├── competitive-analysis.md
├── user-personas.md
├── problem-validation.md
├── pricing-research.md
├── executive-summary.md
└── gtm-manifest/              # Optional, after research complete
    └── gtm-manifest-full.md

Market Research Output Template

# Market Research: {project}

## TAM (Total Addressable Market)
- Global market size: ${X}B
- Growth rate: X% CAGR
- Source: {citation}

## SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market)
- Geographic focus: {regions}
- Segment focus: {segments}
- SAM estimate: ${X}M

## SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market)
- Year 1 realistic target: ${X}M
- Key assumptions: {list}

## Market Trends
1. Trend 1: {description}
2. Trend 2: {description}
3. Trend 3: {description}

## Drivers & Threats
| Drivers | Threats |
|---------|---------|
| {driver1} | {threat1} |
| {driver2} | {threat2} |

Competitor Analysis Output Template

# Competitive Analysis: {project}

## Competitive Landscape

| Competitor | Type | Founded | Funding | Pricing |
|------------|------|---------|---------|---------|
| {name1} | Direct | {year} | ${X}M | {pricing} |
| {name2} | Indirect | {year} | ${X}M | {pricing} |

## Feature Comparison

| Feature | Us | Comp1 | Comp2 | Comp3 |
|---------|----|----|----|----|
| {feature1} | Y | Y | N | Y |
| {feature2} | Y | N | Y | N |

## Gap Analysis
- Gap 1: {description}
- Gap 2: {description}

## Positioning Strategy
{how to differentiate}

Persona Output Template

# User Personas: {project}

## Persona 1: {name}

### Demographics
- Age: {range}
- Role: {job title}
- Income: ${range}
- Location: {regions}

### Behaviors
- {behavior1}
- {behavior2}

### Pain Points
1. {pain1}
2. {pain2}
3. {pain3}

### Goals
- {goal1}
- {goal2}

### Jobs To Be Done
- Functional: {job}
- Emotional: {job}
- Social: {job}

Research Modes

Rules

• Run agents ONE BY ONE
• Agents cite sources with URLs
• If data not found → "Data not available"
• Quick: 3-5 searches, Deep: 8-12 searches

Section 3: Project Naming

Workflow

GATHER CONCEPT → GENERATE NAMES → USER SELECTS → CHECK DOMAINS → PRESENT RESULTS → WRITE TO CONSTITUTION
     ↑                                                               ↓
     └───────────────── Loop if user wants more ─────────────────────┘

Phase 1: Gather Concept

AskUserQuestion: description, tone (Professional/Playful/Technical/Premium)

Extract: product type, benefits, audience, constraints

Phase 2: Generate Names (15-20 candidates)

Naming Strategies:

Call faion-research-agent (mode: names) agent with context + rejected names.

Phase 3: User Selection

AskUserQuestion (multiSelect): show names, allow "generate more"

If "generate more" → add to rejected, loop to Phase 2.

Phase 4: Check Selected

Call faion-domain-checker-agent for:

• .com availability
• .io availability
• .co availability
• GitHub username
• Twitter/X handle

Phase 5: Present Results

AskUserQuestion: "{name} - select as final" or "generate more"

If final selected → Phase 6. Else → loop to Phase 2.

Phase 6: Write to Constitution

Update aidocs/sdd/{project}/constitution.md:

## Project Identity
- **Name:** {name}
- **Domain:** {name}.com

Confirm with next steps: register domain, create GitHub, claim Twitter.

Name Scoring

Error Handling

Integration

Entry Point

This skill is invoked via /faion-net command when user intent is research-related:

# Intent detection
if intent in ["idea", "research", "market", "competitors", "naming", "personas", "pricing"]:
    invoke("faion-research-domain-skill")

Next Steps After Research

After research complete, offer:

• "Create GTM Manifest?" → Call faion-marketing-domain-skill
• "Create spec.md?" → Call faion-sdd-domain-skill
• "Start development?" → Call faion-development-domain-skill

Output Files

Quick Reference

Invoke Idea Discovery

Task(
    subagent_type="faion-research-agent (mode: ideas)",
    prompt="Generate ideas using 7 Ps framework"
)

Invoke Market Research

Task(
    subagent_type="faion-research-agent (mode: market)",
    prompt="Research TAM/SAM/SOM for {product}"
)

Invoke Competitor Analysis

Task(
    subagent_type="faion-research-agent (mode: competitors)",
    prompt="Analyze competitors for {product}"
)

Invoke Persona Building

Task(
    subagent_type="faion-research-agent (mode: personas)",
    prompt="Create personas using JTBD for {product}"
)

Invoke Naming

Task(
    subagent_type="faion-research-agent (mode: names)",
    prompt="Generate names for {product_description}"
)

Methodologies Reference (Detailed)

M-RES-001: 7 Ps of Ideation

Problem

Aspiring entrepreneurs struggle to find viable startup ideas that match their skills and interests.

Framework

Scoring:

• For each P, generate 3-5 ideas
• Score each: Market size (1-5) + Your fit (1-5) + Urgency (1-5)
• Top 3 scores proceed to validation

Templates

Ideation Worksheet:

## Pain Ideas
1. {idea} - Score: {X}/15 - Notes: {why interesting}
2. {idea} - Score: {X}/15

## Passion Ideas
1. {idea} - Score: {X}/15

## Profession Ideas
1. {idea} - Score: {X}/15
...

## Top 3 to Validate
1. {idea} from {P} - Total: {X}/15
2. {idea} from {P} - Total: {X}/15
3. {idea} from {P} - Total: {X}/15

Examples

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: ideas)

M-RES-002: Paul Graham Questions

Problem

Entrepreneurs miss obvious opportunities hiding in plain sight.

Framework

4 Questions:

1. What's tedious but necessary?

   • Tasks everyone hates but must do
   • High frequency, low satisfaction

2. What's surprisingly hard to do?

   • Should be simple but isn't
   • Indicates market failure

3. What do you find yourself building for yourself?

   • Personal tools that could scale
   • Validates genuine need

4. What would you pay for that doesn't exist?

   • Identifies willingness to pay
   • Validates business model

Exploration Process:

1. Spend 30 min per question
2. Write stream-of-consciousness
3. Circle recurring themes
4. Cross-reference with daily activities

Templates

PG Questions Journal:

## Question 1: Tedious but Necessary
### List
- Expense reports
- Code reviews
- Meeting scheduling
- ...

### Themes
- Administrative overhead
- Communication friction

### Top Ideas
- Automated expense categorization
- AI code review assistant

Examples

Successful Companies from PG Questions:

• Dropbox: "Sync files is tedious" → Tedious but necessary
• Stripe: "Payments are hard" → Surprisingly hard
• Notion: "I built my own wiki" → Built for yourself

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: ideas)

M-RES-003: Personal Pain Points

Problem

Entrepreneurs overlook problems they face daily because they've normalized them.

Framework

Mining Techniques:

1. Complaint Audit (1 week)

   • Log every complaint you make
   • Note frequency and intensity
   • Categorize: work, personal, tools

2. Workaround Inventory

   • List all workarounds you've built
   • Spreadsheets, scripts, processes
   • Time spent maintaining them

3. Tool Stack Analysis

   • List all tools you use
   • Rate satisfaction 1-5
   • Identify gaps between tools

4. Time Tracker

   • Track where time goes for 3 days
   • Identify time sinks
   • Calculate cost of inefficiency

Scoring:

Templates

Pain Point Log:

| Date | Complaint | Category | Freq | Intensity | Notes |
|------|-----------|----------|------|-----------|-------|
| 01/18 | Can't find file | Tools | Daily | 7/10 | Slack + Drive + Email |
| 01/18 | Meeting ran over | Work | Weekly | 5/10 | No time boundaries |

Examples

• "I can never find that one Slack message" → Search tool idea
• "Updating all docs after API change" → Auto-sync documentation
• "Switching between 10 tabs" → Dashboard aggregator

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: ideas)

M-RES-004: Idea Scoring Matrix

Problem

Too many ideas, no objective way to prioritize.

Framework

Scoring Dimensions:

Process:

1. Score each idea 1-5 on all dimensions
2. Weight dimensions (optional)
3. Calculate total (max 25)
4. Rank ideas

Decision Thresholds:

• 20-25: Strong proceed
• 15-19: Proceed with caution
• 10-14: Needs pivot
• <10: Pass

Templates

Scoring Matrix:

| Idea | Market | Competition | Barriers | Monetization | Fit | Total |
|------|--------|-------------|----------|--------------|-----|-------|
| A | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 20 |
| B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 17 |
| C | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 20 |

Examples

SaaS Idea Scored:

• Market: $500M (5)
• Competition: 5 competitors (3)
• Barriers: Technical only (4)
• Monetization: SaaS model (5)
• Fit: Developer background (4)
• Total: 21/25 → Strong proceed

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: niche)

M-RES-005: TAM/SAM/SOM Analysis

Problem

Entrepreneurs can't quantify market opportunity or set realistic targets.

Framework

Definitions:

• TAM (Total Addressable Market): Everyone who could buy
• SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market): Those you can reach
• SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market): Realistic Year 1 target

Calculation Methods:

1. Top-Down:

   • Start with industry reports
   • Apply filters (geography, segment)
   • Risk: Often inflated

2. Bottom-Up:

   • Count potential customers
   • Multiply by price point
   • Risk: May miss segments

3. Value Theory:

   • Calculate value created
   • Apply capture rate (1-10%)
   • Most defensible

SOM Reality Check:

• Typical SOM = 1-5% of SAM in Year 1
• With unfair advantage: 5-10%
• With viral growth: 10-20%

Templates

Market Sizing:

## TAM
- Global market: $XX billion
- Growth: X% CAGR
- Source: {report name}

## SAM
- Geographic focus: {regions}
- Segment focus: {segments}
- SAM = $XX million

## SOM (Year 1)
- Target customers: X
- Average revenue: $Y
- SOM = $Z million
- % of SAM: X%

## Assumptions
1. {assumption 1}
2. {assumption 2}

Examples

HR SaaS:

• TAM: $30B (global HR software)
• SAM: $500M (US SMB HR)
• SOM: $2M (500 customers x $4K)
• SOM % of SAM: 0.4%

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: market)

M-RES-006: Market Trend Analysis

Problem

Entrepreneurs miss timing opportunities or build for declining markets.

Framework

Trend Categories:

Analysis Framework:

1. Growth Drivers

   • What accelerates this trend?
   • Technology, regulation, demographics

2. Adoption Curve

   • Where are we? (Innovators → Early Adopters → Majority)
   • Sweet spot: Early Majority

3. Threats

   • What could reverse this trend?
   • Competition, regulation, substitutes

4. Timing Assessment

   • Too early: Education cost too high
   • Just right: Market aware, solutions emerging
   • Too late: Established winners

Templates

Trend Analysis:

## Trend: {Name}

### Overview
- Stage: {Emerging | Growing | Mature | Declining}
- Growth rate: X% annually
- Market size: $X billion

### Drivers
1. {driver} - Impact: High/Medium/Low
2. {driver} - Impact: High/Medium/Low

### Threats
1. {threat} - Likelihood: High/Medium/Low
2. {threat} - Likelihood: High/Medium/Low

### Timing Assessment
- Current stage: Early Majority
- Window: 2-3 years
- Recommendation: {proceed/wait/pivot}

Examples

AI Coding Assistants (2026):

• Stage: Early Majority
• Growth: 45% CAGR
• Window: Now optimal
• Threat: Large players (GitHub, OpenAI)

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: market)

M-RES-007: Competitive Landscape Mapping

Problem

Entrepreneurs underestimate competition or miss indirect competitors.

Framework

Competitor Types:

Mapping Process:

1. Identify all competitors (aim for 15-20)

2. Categorize by type

3. Assess each:

   • Founded, funding, team size
   • Pricing model
   • Key features
   • Positioning

4. Plot on matrix:

   • X-axis: Price (low → high)
   • Y-axis: Features (simple → complex)

5. Find whitespace

Templates

Competitive Landscape:

## Direct Competitors

| Name | Founded | Funding | Pricing | Differentiator |
|------|---------|---------|---------|----------------|
| {name} | 2020 | $10M | $99/mo | Feature X |
| {name} | 2018 | $50M | $199/mo | Enterprise |

## Indirect Competitors

| Name | How they compete | Weakness |
|------|-----------------|----------|
| {name} | {explanation} | {gap} |

## Market Position Map

High Price │ │ [Enterprise A] │ [Our opportunity] │ [Competitor B] │ Low Price ────────────────────── High Features

## Whitespace Identified
- {gap 1}: {description}
- {gap 2}: {description}

Examples

Project Management Tools:

• Direct: Asana, Monday, ClickUp
• Indirect: Spreadsheets, Slack, Email
• Whitespace: AI-native PM for solopreneurs

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: competitors)

M-RES-008: Feature Gap Analysis

Problem

Entrepreneurs don't know which features are missing in the market.

Framework

Analysis Process:

1. Feature Inventory

   • List all features across top 5 competitors
   • Categorize: Core, Differentiator, Nice-to-have

2. Feature Matrix

   • Competitors as columns
   • Features as rows
   • Mark: Has (Y), Partial (P), Missing (N)

3. Gap Identification

   • Features no one has
   • Features only 1-2 have (opportunity)
   • Features everyone has (table stakes)

4. Gap Validation

   • Is this gap intentional (hard, unprofitable)?
   • Do customers want it? (check reviews)
   • Can we build it better?

Templates

Feature Matrix:

| Feature | Us | Comp A | Comp B | Comp C | Gap? |
|---------|-------|--------|--------|--------|------|
| Core 1 | Y | Y | Y | Y | No (table stakes) |
| Core 2 | Y | Y | P | Y | No |
| Diff 1 | Y | N | N | P | Yes - Opportunity |
| Diff 2 | P | Y | Y | N | Build out |
| Nice 1 | N | N | N | N | Validate demand |

Gap Validation:

## Gap: {Feature Name}

### Evidence
- Reviews mentioning need: X
- Forum discussions: X links
- Search volume: X/month

### Why Competitors Don't Have It
- {reason}: Technical difficulty / Low priority / Not aware

### Our Advantage
- {why we can build it}

### Recommendation
- Pursue / Investigate / Skip

Examples

Email Marketing Tools Gap:

• Gap: Native A/B testing for subject lines
• Evidence: 50+ feature requests in Mailchimp community
• Why missing: Requires ML infrastructure
• Our advantage: Have ML expertise

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: competitors)

M-RES-009: User Interviews

Problem

Entrepreneurs build based on assumptions rather than validated user needs.

Framework

Interview Types:

Interview Structure (45 min):

1. Warm-up (5 min): Build rapport
2. Current state (10 min): How do they do it today?
3. Pain exploration (15 min): What's frustrating?
4. Solution probing (10 min): Would X help?
5. Wrap-up (5 min): Would they pay? Referrals?

Golden Rules:

• Talk less than 20% of the time
• Never pitch, only probe
• Ask about past behavior, not future intent
• Look for emotion (frustration, excitement)

Sample Questions:

• "Tell me about the last time you [problem]..."
• "What did you try? What happened?"
• "On a scale of 1-10, how frustrating is this?"
• "How much time/money does this cost you?"

Templates

Interview Script:

## Warm-up
"Thanks for joining. I'm researching [topic]. No sales pitch, just learning."

## Current State
"Walk me through how you currently [task]."
"What tools do you use?"
"How often do you do this?"

## Pain Exploration
"What's the most frustrating part?"
"Tell me about the last time it went wrong."
"What workarounds have you tried?"

## Solution Probing (show concept/prototype)
"Would something like this help?"
"What's missing?"
"Would you pay for this? How much?"

## Wrap-up
"Who else should I talk to?"
"Can I follow up in 2 weeks?"

Examples

Key Insights from 10 Interviews:

• 8/10 mentioned same frustration
• Average time wasted: 3 hours/week
• Willingness to pay: $50-100/month
• Quote: "I would kill for this solution"

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: validate)

M-RES-010: Jobs To Be Done (JTBD)

Problem

Features don't connect to real user motivations.

Framework

JTBD Statement:

When I [situation/trigger],
I want to [motivation/action],
So I can [expected outcome/benefit].

Job Dimensions:

Job Mapping Process:

1. Identify situation triggers
2. Map functional jobs
3. Uncover emotional jobs (harder)
4. Discover social jobs (hardest)
5. Prioritize by frequency + importance

Hiring/Firing Framework:

• Why do customers "hire" solutions?
• Why do they "fire" (abandon) solutions?
• What makes them switch?

Templates

JTBD Canvas:

## Job: {Name}

### Situation/Trigger
When I {situation}...

### Functional Job
I want to {action}...

### Emotional Job
So I can feel {emotion}...

### Social Job
And be seen as {perception}...

### Current Solutions
- {solution 1}: Hired because {reason}, fired because {reason}
- {solution 2}: Hired because {reason}, fired because {reason}

### Our Opportunity
We can {do X better} by {approach}

Examples

Invoicing Software JTBD:

• Situation: When I finish a project for a client
• Functional: I want to send a professional invoice quickly
• Emotional: So I can feel confident I'll get paid
• Social: And be seen as a legitimate business

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: personas)

M-RES-011: User Persona Creation

Problem

Teams build for abstract "users" rather than specific people with distinct needs.

Framework

Persona Components:

Persona Types:

Creation Process:

1. Conduct 5-10 user interviews
2. Identify patterns (cluster similar users)
3. Create 2-3 personas (not more)
4. Validate with team
5. Post visibly (always reference)

Templates

Persona Template:

# Persona: {Name} ({Type})

## Photo
[Stock photo representing this person]

## Demographics
- **Age:** 32
- **Role:** Product Manager at startup
- **Income:** $120K
- **Location:** San Francisco
- **Tech savviness:** High

## Behaviors
- Works 50+ hours/week
- Uses: Slack, Notion, Figma, Jira
- Checks phone first thing in morning
- Reads newsletters over coffee

## Pain Points
1. Too many tools, context switching
2. Stakeholder alignment meetings
3. Data scattered across systems

## Goals
- Ship features faster
- Better work-life balance
- Get promoted to Director

## Quote
"I spend more time coordinating than creating."

## Jobs To Be Done
- When I [situation], I want to [action], so I can [outcome]

Examples

SaaS Personas:

1. Primary: "Startup Sarah" - PM at early-stage startup
2. Secondary: "Enterprise Eric" - PM at Fortune 500
3. Negative: "Agency Alex" - Freelance consultant

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: personas)

M-RES-012: Problem Validation

Problem

Entrepreneurs build solutions for problems that don't exist or aren't painful enough.

Framework

Validation Criteria:

Evidence Types:

Validation Process:

1. State the problem hypothesis
2. Define evidence needed
3. Collect evidence (10+ data points)
4. Assess against criteria
5. Decide: Proceed / Pivot / Kill

Templates

Problem Validation Report:

## Problem: {Statement}

### Hypothesis
{Who} struggles with {what} because {why}

### Evidence Collected

| Type | Source | Finding |
|------|--------|---------|
| Interview | User 1 | "I spend 3 hours/week on this" |
| Interview | User 2 | "Would pay $50/month" |
| Forum | Reddit | 50 upvotes on complaint post |
| Review | G2 | "Missing feature X" (repeated 10x) |
| Search | Google | "solve X problem" - 5K/month |

### Assessment

| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|-----------|-------|----------|
| Frequency | Weekly | Interviews |
| Intensity | 8/10 | Interviews |
| WTP | Yes | 4/5 would pay |
| Search | Medium | 5K/month |
| Competition | Yes | 3 competitors |

### Decision
**PROCEED** - Strong problem-solution fit

Examples

Validated Problem:

• Hypothesis: Freelancers struggle tracking time across projects
• Evidence: 8/10 interviews confirmed, avg 5 hrs/week lost
• Decision: Proceed to solution validation

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: validate)

M-RES-013: Pain Point Mining

Problem

Entrepreneurs don't know where customers express frustrations.

Framework

Mining Sources:

Search Queries:

"{keyword} frustrating" site:reddit.com
"{competitor} alternative" site:reddit.com
"{product} review" 1-star
"I wish {tool} could"
"hate using {tool}"
"looking for {solution}"

Analysis Process:

1. Collect 50+ pain point mentions
2. Categorize by theme
3. Count frequency per theme
4. Note intensity language
5. Identify gaps in solutions

Templates

Pain Point Mining Report:

## Topic: {Area}

### Sources Searched
- Reddit: r/x, r/y, r/z
- App Store: {app1}, {app2}
- Forums: {forum1}

### Pain Points Identified

| Theme | Frequency | Sample Quote | Intensity |
|-------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
| Slow sync | 23 mentions | "Takes forever to sync" | High |
| Missing feature X | 15 mentions | "Why doesn't it have X?" | Medium |
| Expensive | 12 mentions | "Not worth $99/month" | High |

### Key Insights
1. {insight 1}
2. {insight 2}

### Opportunity
{What solution addresses top pain points}

Examples

Project Management Pain Mining:

• Top pain: "Too many clicks to create task" (35 mentions)
• Opportunity: One-click task creation from anywhere

Agent

faion-research-agent (mode: pains)

M-RES-014: Niche Viability Scoring

Problem

Entrepreneurs can't objectively assess if a niche is worth pursuing.

Framework

5 Criteria Model:

Scoring Process:

1. Research each criterion
2. Score 1-10 with justification
3. Apply weights
4. Calculate weighted average
5. Compare to thresholds

Decision Thresholds:

• 7.5-10: Strong opportunity
• 5.5-7.4: Proceed with caution
• 3.5-5.4: Significant risks
• <3.5: Pass

Templates

Niche Viability Scorecard:

## Niche: {Name}

| Criterion | Score | Weight | Weighted | Justification |
|-----------|-------|--------|----------|---------------|
| Market Size | 7 | 25% | 1.75 | $80M SAM |
| Competition | 6 | 20% | 1.20 | 5 competitors |
| Barriers | 8 | 20% | 1.60 | Technical only |
| Profitability | 7 | 20% | 1.40 | SaaS margins |
| Your Fit | 9 | 15% | 1.35 | 10 yrs experience |
| **Total** | | | **7.30** | |

### Decision
**PROCEED WITH CAUTION** - Good opportunity, watch competition

### Risk Mitigation
- {risk 1}: {mitigation}
- {risk 2}: {mitigation}

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