Niche Scoring Checklist for AI SaaS Teams

Working checklist. Skip the reading, run the steps.

Setup

• Sheet: 5 rows (candidates), 7 columns (6 criteria + total)
• Cap exercise at 20 minutes

List Candidates

• One technically exciting niche
• Two adjacent niches
• Two niches outside your usual interest

Score Each (1-10)

• Reachability — specific paying-customer channel
• Pain frequency — daily/weekly/monthly
• Existing spend — adjacent vendor pricing
• Differentiation — customer-visible mechanism
• Builder-fit — audience, not capability
• Competitive crowding — how late you are to the niche

Sanity Check Top Two

• One paragraph: why it would work
• One paragraph: why it would not
• If "not" is more concrete, re-score

Pick and Move

• Highest sum wins
• Five problem interviews this week
• If interviews kill it, re-score five new candidates