# Buteo

> Buteo is an AI idea validator for founders. You describe a startup idea in a paragraph. Buteo turns it into testable claims, researches them on the open web, checks every source it cites, and gives you a Continue, Pivot or Kill recommendation with the evidence behind it. The decision stays with a human.

**How does Buteo validate a startup idea?** It writes a claim for each of 6 lenses: problem, market, competition, feasibility, financial, and risk. Up to five research agents then work in parallel, and the competitor and risk passes always run. Every finding is checked against the page it cites, and a final pass tries to break the strongest evidence before the verdict.

**Does Buteo decide for me?** No. Buteo recommends and you decide. A run pauses at four points for a human: to clarify the idea, to approve validation missions, to report what real experiments found, and to choose Continue, Pivot or Kill. An idea is never killed automatically.

**How long does a validation take?** Minutes, not seconds. One measured first pass took 13 minutes to reach a verdict, ran 55 searches, kept 52 findings and mapped 8 competitors. That is one real run of one idea, so yours will differ.

**What does the confidence score mean?** Confidence is evidence strength, not idea quality. It says how well the sources Buteo found support each claim, lens by lens. There is no single viability score, because nothing in the analysis computes one. The verdict leads, and each confirmed point cites a page you can open.

**What happens after the verdict?** You can test the open questions with real customers and re-evaluate as results come in. If the idea holds, Buteo writes a cited go-to-market study and a build plan drawn from the same evidence. If you have no idea yet, it can propose angles from a problem space.

**What does Buteo cost?** Your first validation is free and needs no card, only a confirmed email address. After that Buteo runs on credits: a validation costs 10, another research pass on the same idea 8, a go-to-market study 8, a build plan 6 and an idea-generation session 1. Credits are bought in packs that never expire, from 30 credits for $19 to 250 credits for $99. There is no subscription. If a run fails, its credits are returned.

**Is my idea private?** Yes, by default. A validation is visible only to you. If you choose to share an idea, other signed-in users see its title, summary and verdict, never your evidence, hypotheses or scores, and you can unshare it at any time. Go-to-market studies are different: a finished one joins a library every signed-in user can read, and may be featured on the public site with its author's agreement.

**What a credit buys**

- A validation, start to verdict: 10 credits. The first one is free: 10 credits, no card.
- Another research pass on the same idea: 8 credits
- A go-to-market study: 8 credits
- A build plan: 6 credits
- An idea-generation session: 1 credit

**Credit packs** (bought once; there is no subscription)

- Starter pack: $19 once for 30 credits, which never expire
- Builder pack: $49 once for 100 credits, which never expire
- Founder pack: $99 once for 250 credits, which never expire

## Product

- [Buteo: AI startup idea validator with cited evidence](https://buteo.ink/): what Buteo is, what it offers today, how a validation works, what one real run measured, pricing and the FAQ
- [How Buteo validates a startup idea](https://buteo.ink/methodology): The method behind a Buteo verdict: six lenses, five research passes, a fixed evidence-quality formula, source verification, and four human gates.
- [AI startup idea validators, compared](https://buteo.ink/compare): Buteo beside Preuve AI, IdeaProof, DimeADozen and ValidatorAI: what each returns, how it handles sources, how long it takes and what it costs.
- [Go-to-market case studies](https://buteo.ink/case-studies): Go-to-market teardowns written by Buteo: market, competition, channels, pricing and a 90-day plan, each line cited to a page you can open.

## Guides

- [Guides to validating a startup idea](https://buteo.ink/guides): Practical guides to testing a startup idea before you build it: the method, the experiments, the Continue, Pivot or Kill call, and what AI can and cannot do.
- [How to validate a startup idea before you build it](https://buteo.ink/guides/how-to-validate-a-startup-idea): A six-step method for validating a startup idea: write the claims it rests on, find evidence for and against, test the gaps with real people, then decide.
- [Continue, pivot or kill: how to decide on a startup idea](https://buteo.ink/guides/continue-pivot-or-kill): How to make the Continue, Pivot or Kill call on a startup idea: set the criteria before the evidence arrives, and know what each answer commits you to.
- [Startup validation experiments: which test to run, and when](https://buteo.ink/guides/startup-validation-experiments): Customer interviews, surveys, landing pages, fake doors, concierge tests, ad tests and prototypes: what each one proves, what it cannot, and when to use it.
- [Can AI validate a startup idea?](https://buteo.ink/guides/can-ai-validate-a-startup-idea): AI can find and check published evidence about a startup idea in minutes. It cannot tell you whether strangers will pay. What to trust, and what to test.

## Optional

- [About Buteo](https://buteo.ink/about): Buteo is an AI idea validator for founders: it turns a startup idea into testable claims, researches them, and checks every source before a verdict.
- [Every page on Buteo](https://buteo.ink/sitemap): Every public page on Buteo, the AI idea validator: the product pages, the guides, the featured case studies, and the company and legal pages.
- [Create an account](https://buteo.ink/register)
- [Sign in](https://buteo.ink/login)