Episode Summary

Most founders waste months building products nobody wants. This episode shows you how to validate any idea in 24 hours with just one page and 20 people—no code, no design, no MVP required. You'll learn the one-page smoke test: a simple three-step framework to get real behavioral signal (not opinions) before you build anything.

Resources Mentioned

Free Resource:

• One Sentence Product Snap Worksheet - Write your problem description and simple CTA

Recommended Kits:

• Kickstart Kit ($19) - Turn ideas into testable hypotheses
• Beta List Builder Kit ($39) - Recruit testers and collect useful feedback

Ship List (Do This Week)

1. Write your problem description - One paragraph. Format: "If you're a WHO struggling with PROBLEM, you know how PAINFUL DETAIL feels." Make it specific enough that your target person says "that's me."
2. Add a simple CTA - Not "sign up" or "join waitlist." Use: "I'm building something to solve this. Want to talk? Book 15 minutes here." Or even simpler: "Reply with your email and I'll reach out."
3. Share it with 20 people - DM 20 people directly. Post in one community. Email your list. Get it in front of exactly 20 people and track who responds.

Measure List

Metric 1: Response Rate

• Success: 5+ people (25% or higher) book a call or reply → Strong demand. Build it.
• Weak signal: 1-2 people respond → Have the conversations, learn more, refine your problem description and try again.
• Fail: 0 responses → No demand. Don't build. You just saved three months. Try a different problem.

Metric 2: Conversation Quality

• Success: When you talk to people who responded, they're excited. They ask "when will this be ready?" They describe the pain in their own words. This is real validation.
• Fail: Polite interest only. "That's cool." But no urgency. No follow-up questions. This is not enough signal to build.

Key Takeaway

"Behavior beats opinions. If someone won't spend 15 minutes talking about your solution, they definitely won't spend $15 buying it."

Validation isn't about asking "would you use this?" It's about watching what people do when you offer them something real. A conversation is real. A waitlist signup is not. If 5 out of 20 people will talk to you, you have demand. If zero will, you just saved yourself months of building the wrong thing.

Worked Example: Content Repurposing Tool

The Problem Description: "If you're a content creator who writes long-form posts, you know how tedious it is to manually break them into Twitter threads. Copy, paste, edit for length, adjust tone, add hooks. It takes an hour per post. And if you don't do it? Your best writing stays buried in your blog. Nobody sees it."

The Offer: "I'm building a tool that turns blog posts into threads automatically. If you'd use something like this, I'd love to show you a quick demo and get your feedback. Book 15 minutes here."

The Test: Shared with 20 content creators. 6 people booked calls (30% response rate). Strong demand confirmed. Built the product informed by those 6 conversations. Had 6 ready testers on day one.

About Ship Something

Ship Something: The Unstuck Product Show helps founders turn stuck into shipped. Each week, we take one common product problem and turn it into a simple framework and a real action plan.

New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Subscribe:

• Amazon
• Spotify
• YouTube
• RSS Feed

Follow Product Kit OS

• Website: ProductKitOS.com
• Twitter (X): @SeanHiltos (founder, Product Kit OS)
• Instagram: Product Kit OS
• YouTube: @ProductKitOS

Episode produced: January 2026

Hosted on: RedCircle

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ship-something/donations

Episode Summary

What if you could ship something real in seven days for almost any idea? This episode shows you how to take any product idea—no matter how big—and cut it down to a shippable thin slice using a five-step framework.

Resources MentionedFree Resource

Build Something Smaller Cheatsheet (7-12 min PDF)

Scope scissors prompts, MVP definition rules, and a simple version 1 boundary line.

→ Download here

Recommended Kits

Scope Shrinker Kit ($39)

Cut your product to something shippable with must-have filters, risk weights, and a scope trim canvas.

→ Get the kit

MVP Map Kit ($59)

Map v1, v2, v3 thin slices with stories and sequencing logic for a buildable plan.

→ Get the kit

Ship List (Do This Week)

1. Write your core job sentence: Use the format "This product helps [who] [do what] without [the thing they hate about current solutions]." Be specific.
2. List all your features, then cut ruthlessly: Run the "would they still use it without this?" test. Move everything that fails to your "later list."
3. Write your 7 daily milestones: Each day should have one concrete, finishable task. Day 7 is always "Ship."

Measure List

One metric: Did you ship something on day 7?

Not "Did you finish everything?" Not "Did you build it perfectly?"

Did you ship something—anything—that a real person could use?

If yes → You succeeded. Learn and iterate.

If no → Your scope was too big. Cut more. Try again.

Key Takeaway

Shipping a thin slice in seven days beats building the full product in seven months.

Name the core job. Cut everything else. Define "good enough." Break it into 7 milestones. Ship on day 7 no matter what.

Worked Example: Bug Tracker

Core job: "This product helps engineering teams capture bugs from Slack and track them without manual copy-paste."

Features cut: Assignments, priorities, GitHub integration, notifications, reports, search, filters

Features kept: Capture from Slack, track status (open/in-progress/closed), add comments

7-Day Build Plan:

• Day 1: Slack listener captures messages
• Day 2: Store bugs in database
• Day 3: Display bug list
• Day 4: Add status dropdown
• Day 5: Add comment field
• Day 6: Test with one real team
• Day 7: Ship

About Ship Something

Ship Something: The Unstuck Product Show helps founders turn stuck into shipped. Each week, we take one common product problem and turn it into a simple framework and a real action plan.

New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Subscribe:

• Amazon
• Spotify
• YouTube
• RSS Feed

Follow Product Kit OS

• Website: ProductKitOS.com
• Twitter (X): @SeanHiltos (founder, Product Kit OS)
• Instagram: Product Kit OS
• YouTube: @ProductKitOS

Episode produced: January 2026

Hosted on: RedCircle

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ship-something/donations

Episode Summary

You know what your product does, but every time you try to explain it, you ramble. This episode gives you a simple three-part template to explain your product in one clear sentence—no jargon, no feature dumps, just clarity.

Resources MentionedFree Resource

One Sentence Product Snap Worksheet (5-8 min worksheet)

A 1-page worksheet with the template, prompts for each part, and space for two alternate versions.

→ Download here

Recommended Kits

Persona Kit ($19)

Define exactly who your product is for with triggers, motivations, and objections.

→ Get the kit

Kickstart Kit ($19)

Turn a fuzzy idea into a concrete product direction with a 1-page Product Snapshot.

→ Get the kit

Ship List (Do This Week)

1. Write your one sentence using the template: "This helps [who] do [what] so you can [outcome]." Be specific. Use simple verbs like "create," "track," "send," "organize."
2. Test it on someone: Read them your sentence. Ask "What do you think this product does?" If they can repeat it back accurately, you nailed it. If they look confused, rewrite it.

Measure List

One metric: Can someone repeat your product back after hearing your sentence once?

If yes → You have clarity.

If no → Your sentence is still too complicated. Simplify it. Test again.

You'll know you have it when people nod and say "Oh, got it."

Key Takeaway

Clarity beats cleverness.

Use the template: "This helps [who] do [what] so you can [outcome]." Keep testing until someone can hear it once and explain it back. That's when you know it works.

About Ship Something

Ship Something: The Unstuck Product Show helps founders turn stuck into shipped. Each week, we take one common product problem and turn it into a simple framework and a real action plan.

New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Subscribe:

• Amazon
• Spotify
• YouTube
• RSS Feed

Follow Product Kit OS

• Website: ProductKitOS.com
• Twitter (X): @SeanHiltos (founder, Product Kit OS)
• Instagram: Product Kit OS
• YouTube: @ProductKitOS

Episode produced: January 2026

Hosted on: RedCircle

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ship-something/donations

Episode Description

Your MVP started simple, but now it has 47 features and a six-month timeline. In this episode, I give you three brutal questions that cut MVP bloat fast. Learn how to tell the difference between "must have" and "nice to have" so you can actually ship.

What You'll Learn

• Why MVPs balloon from 2 weeks to 6 months
• The three questions that expose unnecessary features
• How to identify what your MVP actually needs to prove
• The two-week forcing function that creates real MVPs
• How to cut features without second-guessing yourself

The Framework: The MVP Cut Test

Question 1: What's the one thing this proves?

Your MVP exists to test one hypothesis. Every feature should help prove that hypothesis. If it doesn't → cut it.

Question 2: Would they still use it without this?

For each feature, ask: "If I removed this completely, would people still sign up and try the product?" If yes → cut it.

Question 3: Can you ship this in two weeks?

Two weeks is the forcing function. If your MVP takes longer than two weeks to build, it's not minimum. Keep cutting until it fits.

Worked Example

Twitter Thread Writing Tool:

• Started with 8 features (drafts, save, preview, scheduling, analytics, hashtags, AI, export)
• Ran the three questions
• Cut down to 2 features: Write drafts, Save drafts
• Result: Can ship in 3 days instead of 3 months

Ship This Week

1. Write your MVP hypothesis: "This MVP proves that [who] wants [what]." Make it specific and testable.
2. Run every feature through the three questions: Does it prove the hypothesis? Would they still use it without this? Can you ship in two weeks? If any answer is no → cut it.

Measure This

• How many features did you cut? If you started with 15 and you're still at 12, you didn't cut enough. Aim for 5 or fewer features. That's an MVP.

Resources MentionedFree Resources

• Build Something Smaller Cheatsheet: Scope cutting tactics and MVP boundaries
• → Download free at ProductKitOS.com/free

Paid Products

• Scope Shrinker Kit ($39): Structured process for cutting MVP bloat with the 3-question framework, worksheets, and examples
• → Get the Scope Shrinker Kit

About Ship Something

Ship Something: The Unstuck Product Show helps founders turn stuck into shipped. Each week, we take one common product problem and turn it into a simple framework and a real action plan.

New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Subscribe:

• Amazon
• Spotify
• YouTube
• RSS Feed

Follow Product Kit OS

• Website: ProductKitOS.com
• Twitter (X): @SeanHiltos (founder, Product Kit OS)
• Instagram: Product Kit OS
• YouTube: @ProductKitOS

Episode produced: January 2026

Hosted on: RedCircle

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ship-something/donations

Episode Summary

Stop building in the dark. This episode shows you how to validate demand, test positioning, and learn what people actually want—all with a simple landing page you can ship in one day.

Resources MentionedFree Resource

One Sentence Product Snap (5-8 min worksheet)

A 1-page worksheet to write your product in one clean line—perfect for landing page headlines and CTAs.

→ Download here

Recommended Kits

Kickstart Kit ($19)

Turn a fuzzy idea into a concrete product hypothesis with validation steps, audience clarity, and a 1-page Product Snapshot.

→ Get the kit

Beta List Builder Kit ($39)

Build a waitlist, recruit beta testers, and drive your first 100 people with outreach scripts and screening flows.

→ Get the kit

Ship List (Do This Week)

1. Write your three answers: Outcome, audience, trigger. Make them specific enough to write a headline from.
2. Build the page in one day: One page. Headline, subheadline, 3 bullets, 1 CTA. Use Carrd, Webflow, Notion, or Google Sites. Ship by Friday.
3. Drive 100 people to it: Pick one method (post in communities, DM 50 people, or pay for 100 clicks). Execute this week.

Measure List

Metric 1: Conversion rate

How many visitors clicked your CTA and submitted their email?

• 5% minimum
• 10% is good
• 15%+ is excellent

If under 5%, your messaging is off or your audience is wrong. Iterate and try again.

Metric 2: Time on page

How long are people staying?

• Under 10 seconds = They bounced (headline didn't hook them)
• 30+ seconds = They read and considered (good signal)

If people read but don't convert, your offer might not be compelling enough.

Key Takeaway

A week of validation beats three months of regret.

Ship a landing page before you ship a product. Write it, build it, drive 100 people to it, watch what they do, and decide based on signal—not hope.

Tools Mentioned

• Carrd - Simple landing page builder (free tier available)
• Webflow - More advanced page builder
• Framer - Design-focused landing pages
• Typeform - Email signup forms
• Google Analytics / Plausible - Free analytics for tracking behavior

About Ship Something

Ship Something: The Unstuck Product Show helps founders turn stuck into shipped. Each week, we take one common product problem and turn it into a simple framework and a real action plan.

New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Subscribe:

• Amazon
• Spotify
• YouTube
• RSS Feed

Follow Product Kit OS

• Website: ProductKitOS.com
• Twitter (X): @SeanHiltos (founder, Product Kit OS)
• Instagram: Product Kit OS
• YouTube: @ProductKitOS

Episode produced: January 2026

Hosted on: RedCircle

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ship-something/donations

Episode Summary

Stop waiting for your MVP to feel impressive. This episode gives you permission to build something embarrassingly small—and explains why that's actually your fastest path to learning what works.

Resources MentionedFree Resource

Build Something Smaller Cheatsheet (7-12 min PDF)

A free guide that helps you cut scope and ship a smaller v1.

→ Download here

Recommended Kit

Scope Shrinker Kit ($39)

Turn your bloated MVP into something you can actually ship. Includes must-have filters, risk weights, and a scope trim canvas.

→ Get the kit

Ship List (Do This Week)

1. Cut your MVP in half, then cut it again. Write down the one thing that's left. That's your actual MVP.
2. Set a 7-day deadline to put it in front of a real person. Not to finish building—to get feedback.

Measure List

One metric: Did you put your MVP in front of someone by your deadline? (Yes/No)

If no, your scope was still too big. Cut more.

About Ship Something

Ship Something: The Unstuck Product Show helps founders turn stuck into shipped. Each week, we take one common product problem and turn it into a simple framework and a real action plan.

New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Subscribe:

• Amazon
• Spotify
• YouTube
• RSS Feed

Follow Product Kit OS

• Website: ProductKitOS.com
• Twitter (X): @SeanHiltos (founder, Product Kit OS)
• Instagram: Product Kit OS
• YouTube: @ProductKitOS

Episode produced: January 2026

Hosted on: RedCircle

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ship-something/donations