# Revenue Validation

> Scout research skill — Revenue Validation

- Skill: `nickgallick/revenue-validation` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add nickgallick/revenue-validation`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/nickgallick/revenue-validation/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: nickgallick (https://skillmd.com/u/nickgallick)
- Updated: 2026-09-08
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/nickgallick/revenue-validation

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# Skill: Revenue Validation

Demand is not the same as willingness to pay. This skill verifies people actually spend money to solve this problem.

## The Three Revenue Questions

### 1. ARE PEOPLE ALREADY PAYING FOR A BAD VERSION?
Search for:
- Competitor pricing pages — what do they charge? What tiers?
- G2/Capterra reviews mentioning price: "overpriced but no alternative" = holy grail signal
- Reddit/HN threads: "cheaper alternative to X" = confirmed willingness to pay
- Upwork/Fiverr: search for the task being done manually — that's money being spent RIGHT NOW
- Freelancer hourly rates for this work × hours per month = the budget you're replacing
- Check if companies are posting job listings for roles that do this task manually — that's a salary software could replace

### 2. WHAT'S THE REPLACEMENT COST?
Categorize:
- REPLACING A SALARY: Target customer currently pays someone $40-100K/yr to do this manually. High willingness to pay for software. ($200-500/mo is easy to justify.)
- REPLACING AN EXPENSIVE TOOL: Target customer pays $200+/mo for an enterprise tool they hate. Room for a cheaper, better alternative at $50-150/mo.
- REPLACING A CHEAP TOOL: Target customer pays $10-30/mo for something basic. Hard to compete on price — you need to be dramatically better.
- REPLACING NOTHING: Target customer uses spreadsheets, email, or manual workarounds. They've never paid for this. HARDEST to convert. You must prove ROI clearly.
- REPLACING AGENCY/FREELANCER: Target customer pays an agency $500-5000/mo. Software at $100-300/mo is a no-brainer pitch.

### 3. VITAMIN OR PAINKILLER?
- PAINKILLER: Solves an active, urgent, recurring problem. People seek this out. They KNOW they need it.
  - Signals: people searching for solutions, complaining about the problem, hiring to solve it
  - Examples: invoicing for freelancers, scheduling for service businesses, compliance tracking
- VITAMIN: Nice to have, improves something, but life goes on without it.
  - Signals: people think it's cool but don't actively look for it, "that would be nice" vs "I need this NOW"
  - Examples: productivity trackers, habit apps, social media analytics
- CANDY: Fun/entertaining but no real utility. AVOID for SaaS.

## Pricing Confidence Rating
- HIGH: Multiple data points showing people actively pay to solve this problem. Competitor pricing exists. Freelancers are hired for this.
- MEDIUM: Adjacent spend exists (people pay for related tools). Some willingness signals but not direct.
- LOW: No evidence of spend found. Purely speculative that people would pay. RED FLAG.

## MINIMUM: Pricing confidence must be MEDIUM or higher to include in report. LOW = kill the idea.