I Almost Built a Startup This Week. The Evidence Said No — In One Afternoon.

A software developer shares a cautionary tale about how they nearly committed six months to a startup idea before applying a rigorous evidence-based checklist. By evaluating the competitor's actual revenue, verifying the novelty of their technical edge against current research, and conducting an honest experiment on their prototype, the author realized the project was not viable. The experiment revealed that while the tool could detect threats, it also blocked all legitimate user actions, rendering it unusable. The author emphasizes that a competitor's popularity is not proof of a business model and that 'crowded' markets are only a deterrent when they overlap with one's own weaknesses. Ultimately, the author concludes that killing a flawed idea early is a highly productive exercise, allowing builders to focus their limited time on projects that can withstand objective scrutiny rather than just personal excitement.