The step before Cursor

Validate your idea.Then build it.

Scaffold’s AI walks you through structured validation — market sizing, competitive analysis, user personas — then outputs a master prompt that plugs directly into Cursor.

Live MVP · Free to start · YC S26 applicant

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The Problem

Cursor builds fast.But is it building the right thing?

AI coding tools made it trivially easy to ship software. So founders skip straight to building — vibe-coding apps in a weekend, shipping to zero users, wondering what went wrong. 42% of startups fail because they build something nobody wants.

The problem was never the code. It’s that Cursor is only as good as the prompt you give it — and most founders don’t have enough clarity to write a good one.

1 in 10 startups survive. The difference? They validated first.

$29B — Cursor's valuation · 10M+ — Cursor monthly users · 42% — startups that fail from no market need · $6.6B — Lovable's valuation · 70% — of vibe-coded apps that never get a user · 0 — lines of code needed to ship an app in 2026·$29B — Cursor's valuation · 10M+ — Cursor monthly users · 42% — startups that fail from no market need · $6.6B — Lovable's valuation · 70% — of vibe-coded apps that never get a user · 0 — lines of code needed to ship an app in 2026·$29B — Cursor's valuation · 10M+ — Cursor monthly users · 42% — startups that fail from no market need · $6.6B — Lovable's valuation · 70% — of vibe-coded apps that never get a user · 0 — lines of code needed to ship an app in 2026·
The Solution

Validate first.Build with confidence.

Input your rough idea. Scaffold runs structured validation — problem-solution fit, market sizing, competitive landscape, user personas. The output is a validated roadmap and a master prompt that plugs into Cursor so the AI actually knows what to build.

YOUR IDEA"I want to build X"
SCAFFOLD"Is this viable?"
MASTER PROMPT"Here's what to build"
CURSOR"Now AI knows what to build"
The right product. Built right.

Cursor builds the product. We make sure it’s the right product.

How It Works
scaffold
01

Drop your idea

Even one sentence works — “An app that helps college students find affordable textbooks.” Scaffold’s 10-function AI pipeline takes it from there.

→ Structured problem statement
02

AI runs validation

Not ChatGPT opinions — structured analysis. Problem-solution fit. Market sizing with real data. Competitive landscape mapping. User persona generation. Risk flagging. All automated.

→ Validated roadmap + insights
03

Get your master prompt

The output isn’t a report you’ll never read. It’s a context-rich document — personas, market context, feature priorities, technical requirements — that plugs directly into Cursor or Lovable. The AI finally understands what to build and why.

→ Master prompt for Cursor
Why Not Just Use\u2026
Alternatives
Scaffold
Idea validation
ChatGPT opinions
Structured 10-step pipeline
Market research
Manual Googling
AI-powered market sizing
Usable output
A conversation
Master prompt for Cursor
Domain expertise
Generic model
Trained on 500+ founders
What’s next?
Good luck
Plug into Cursor & build
Built on Proof

We didn’t start with software. We spent 3 years doing this by hand — mentoring 500+ student founders across 7 countries, generating $50K+ in revenue with mentors from Samsung, Stripe, and OpenAI-backed startups. The same pattern every time: founders who could build anything, but didn’t know what to build. Now we’ve encoded that into AI.

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Founders
$0K+
Revenue
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Countries
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By hand first
Pricing

Start free. Upgrade when you’re ready to build faster.

Free
$0forever
  • 1 idea validation per month
  • Basic market sizing
  • Problem-solution fit analysis
  • Competitive overview
  • Community access
Popular
Builder
$20/mo
  • Unlimited validations
  • Deep market research
  • User persona generation
  • Master prompt export
  • Priority support

Join the waitlist — free tier available at launch.

Stop vibe-coding blind.Validate first.

Cursor builds the product. We make sure it’s the right product. Join the waitlist.

Free tier available · No credit card required