Question 1

How do I get started with NELL AI Labs?

Accepted Answer

Sign in with Google or LinkedIn, pick a plan from the Pricing page, and submit your first AI startup idea from the dashboard. Most users go from landing page to a full validation report in under ten minutes. If you are unsure which plan fits, start with IdeaBank (free), then move to DeepValidate or Launchpad when you are ready for a full report.

Question 2

What do I need before submitting my first idea?

Accepted Answer

Three things: a Google or LinkedIn account (we use OAuth, so there are no passwords to manage), your LinkedIn profile URL so our team has professional context when reviewing, and a description of your AI product idea with the target industry and optionally your TAM estimate.

Question 3

What is the pre-flight idea gate?

Accepted Answer

Before running a full validation report, NELL runs a quick idea-quality check. If your pitch is too vague or off-target, it surfaces sharper reframes you can pick from, or you can run with your original. The gate keeps you from burning a credit on a fuzzy idea, and it is free regardless of plan.

Question 4

Why is a NELL report more useful than ChatGPT or generic AI?

Accepted Answer

NELL reports are built to be defensible rather than plausible. Claims carry deep-link citations to real sources, the scoring follows a fixed rubric of 11 scored dimensions across 5 pillars, and the system refuses to fabricate figures it cannot source instead of filling the gap with a confident guess.

Question 5

What is the difference between Quick Validate and DeepValidate?

Accepted Answer

Quick Validate returns a high-level viability score and verdict so you can triage a direction fast. DeepValidate runs the full analysis - 11 scored dimensions across 5 pillars: is the problem real, is the market worth it, can we win, can we monetize, and NELL fit - with TAM, demand and competitor evidence, pricing power and unit economics, rolling up into one verdict score.

Question 6

What is the ICP buy-in survey?

Accepted Answer

A public survey you send to your own prospective buyers to gather real demand evidence rather than assumptions. It includes a screener that disqualifies respondents who do not match your ICP before their answers count, and respondent answers and addresses are never exposed in the admin console - only aggregate counts.

Question 7

What survey methodology do you use?

Accepted Answer

The Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter, asked as four open currency questions with no default, no placeholder and no suggested range, so the instrument does not anchor the answer.

Question 8

How does NELL stop AI hallucination in its reports?

Accepted Answer

Every claim is generated against sourced evidence and carries metadata showing where it came from and how confident it is. NELL deliberately refuses to produce certain categories of number it cannot ground, and the Methodology page documents both the mechanisms in place and the work still on the roadmap.

Question 9

What is your accuracy against ideas that actually launched and failed?

Accepted Answer

The scoring is a rubric, not a trained model. There is no labelled corpus of launched-and-failed startups behind it and it has not been backtested against one. Anyone selling a pre-launch validation accuracy percentage is either overstating it or measuring survivorship bias, because there is no clean ground truth for the counterfactual.

Question 10

Do credits expire, and what if a report fails to generate?

Accepted Answer

Plans carry a defined number of report credits, and you can upgrade, downgrade or top up at any time. If a report fails to generate you are not charged the credit for it.

Question 11

Do NELL reports cover regions outside the US?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every report includes a multi-region Location Strategy covering the US, UK, EU, UAE and GCC, APAC and LATAM, with GDPR, PDPL, LGPD and India DPDP coverage. You can also state a preferred region, and the report will say plainly whether the analysis agrees with your choice.

Question 12

How does the Pro Builder plan work, and is there equity?

Accepted Answer

Pro Builder is a sales-led engagement rather than a fixed bundle, because no two engagements look alike. It covers unlimited validation and GTM access plus the PMF, Lead Gen, Sales, MRR Execution and Execute playbooks, the Vibe Builder community and builder office hours. Scope and cost are agreed on a 30-minute call.

Answers about building your AI startup.

Getting started

Plans & pricing: what you get for the money

Validation & GTM reports

Buyer evidence: the ICP buy-in survey

Trust & accuracy: how NELL avoids hallucination

Build & Execute playbooks

Pro Builder Plan: how the engagement works

Students: the free Student Playbook

Universities: the Venture Execution Curriculum

Using NELL: tasks, analytics & sharing

Team, community & support

Privacy & data

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