Built this over the past 3 months. OperatorMemo.com
*The problem:* Everyone lies to founders about their ideas. Friends are supportive, investors nod politely, even early customers sugarcoat feedback. By the time you get real signal, you've burned months.
*What it does:* You describe a business concept (20-1000 chars), it returns a strategic analysis memo. Not "this is interesting" fluff — actual breakdown of power dynamics, execution phases, competitive landscape, and what will kill the idea.
*Why it's different from ChatGPT:*
- Heavily prompted system with specific framework (positioning tables, execution phases, action items)
- Uses Claude Opus 4.5 (expensive but noticeably better output for strategic analysis)
- Structured output that's actually actionable, not a wall of text
*Stack:*
- Next.js 14 (App Router)
- Supabase (auth + postgres)
- Stripe (simple credit system, no subscriptions)
- Deployed on VPS with Caddy
- Total infra cost: ~$50/mo not counting API
*Pricing:* $10 for 5 analyses, $25 for 15, $70 for 50. No free tier — API costs are real (~$0.30-0.50 per memo with Opus).
*What I learned building this:*
1. Prompt engineering for structured output is harder than expected. Took 20+ iterations to get consistent section formatting.
2. People spend way more time reading the "what will kill this idea" section than anything else.
3. Nobody shares their memos. The ideas are too private. Killed my viral loop hopes.
*Honest limitations:*
- It's not a replacement for real customer interviews
- Quality depends heavily on how well you describe your concept
- Sometimes the AI gets generic on very niche industries
Looking for feedback on the product and positioning. Also curious if anyone has experience with prompt caching for cost reduction — currently caching the system prompt but wondering if there's more to optimize.
Source isn't open but happy to discuss technical decisions.
Show HN: I built a tool that gives brutally honest feedback on business ideas · HackerTrans
Built this over the past 3 months. OperatorMemo.com
*The problem:* Everyone lies to founders about their ideas. Friends are supportive, investors nod politely, even early customers sugarcoat feedback. By the time you get real signal, you've burned months.
*What it does:* You describe a business concept (20-1000 chars), it returns a strategic analysis memo. Not "this is interesting" fluff — actual breakdown of power dynamics, execution phases, competitive landscape, and what will kill the idea.
*Why it's different from ChatGPT:* - Heavily prompted system with specific framework (positioning tables, execution phases, action items) - Uses Claude Opus 4.5 (expensive but noticeably better output for strategic analysis) - Structured output that's actually actionable, not a wall of text
*Stack:* - Next.js 14 (App Router) - Supabase (auth + postgres) - Stripe (simple credit system, no subscriptions) - Deployed on VPS with Caddy - Total infra cost: ~$50/mo not counting API
*Pricing:* $10 for 5 analyses, $25 for 15, $70 for 50. No free tier — API costs are real (~$0.30-0.50 per memo with Opus).
*What I learned building this:* 1. Prompt engineering for structured output is harder than expected. Took 20+ iterations to get consistent section formatting. 2. People spend way more time reading the "what will kill this idea" section than anything else. 3. Nobody shares their memos. The ideas are too private. Killed my viral loop hopes.
*Honest limitations:* - It's not a replacement for real customer interviews - Quality depends heavily on how well you describe your concept - Sometimes the AI gets generic on very niche industries
Looking for feedback on the product and positioning. Also curious if anyone has experience with prompt caching for cost reduction — currently caching the system prompt but wondering if there's more to optimize.
Source isn't open but happy to discuss technical decisions.