3cStudios — Founder Intake

Section A — Quick Basics

Just enough context to route you.

Name *

Email *

Company / project name

Website / deck link (optional)

What stage are you in right now? *

What are you hoping to get from 3cStudios? (pick up to 2) *

Reality check / go-no-go Help validating demand Help narrowing MVP scope Help finding PMF Accountability & momentum Build support (after validation)

Tip: If you want “build now,” we’re still friends… but we’ll probably start with validation.

Section B — The Problem (no features allowed)

Describe the pain. Not the product.

In one sentence: what problem are you solving? *

Who experiences this pain most intensely? *

How do you know this problem exists? *

How painful is it? *

What happens if they do nothing? *

Section C — Customer & Market

ICP, alternatives, and why the world hasn’t fixed this yet.

ICP role/title *

Industry / domain *

Company size (or “consumer”) *

Where do they hang out? *

What are they using today instead? *

Why hasn’t this been solved already? *

If your solution disappeared tomorrow, how disappointed would users be? *

Section D — Validation & Willingness to Pay

PMF signals. Not vibes.

How many customer interviews in the last 30 days? *

Have target customers explicitly said they would pay? *

What evidence do you have that someone will pay? (choose all that apply) *

Verbal commitment (“I’d pay for this”) LOI / pilot agreement Pre-orders / waitlist with strong intent Paying customer already I don’t have evidence yet

What price do you think is realistic? *

Who is the economic buyer? *

Section E — The Solution (now you can mention it)

Smallest useful version + the biggest risk assumption.

In one sentence: what are you building? *

What’s the smallest useful version that could create momentum? *

What’s the #1 assumption that must be true for this to work? *

List 3 features you feel tempted to build (but aren’t sure you should). *

Section F — Commitment, Motivation & Marathon Readiness

Tools are fast. The journey still takes grit.

Why are you doing this? *

Execution bandwidth for the next 8 weeks *

What will most likely derail you? (pick up to 2) *

Hold Ctrl/Cmd to pick two. (We’ll still forgive you if you pick three… maybe.)

Willing to do 10–20 customer conversations before building? *

When things get hard, your default behavior is… *

You’ll get a response with a recommended next step (Step 1/2/3) and the most important “don’t do this next” guidance.

Your likely next step

Based on your answers, we’ll route you into:

Step 1

Reality Check

Best when interviews are low or the ICP/problem is still fuzzy.

Step 2

Validation Sprint

Best when you’re ready to run 10–20 conversations and prove willingness-to-pay.

Step 3

Earned MVP

Best when you already have strong pay signals and need a narrow, time-boxed MVP.

Rule: We won’t help you build the wrong thing faster. If Step 1 or 2 says “not yet,” that’s progress.

View the 3-Step Ladder