What is the difference between ITERATE and KILL?

ITERATE means the project has a real but incomplete signal: one or two dimensions are strong enough to be worth saving, and a focused fix could tip it to SHIP. KILL means the signal is largely absent across dimensions and the opportunity cost of continuing outweighs the likely return. The dimension breakdown is how you tell them apart: a single weak dimension among strong ones is iterable; weakness across the board is a kill.

How often should I re-run the score?

Treat it as a checkpoint after each meaningful sprint, roughly monthly for an active side project. The value is in the trend: a project whose weakest dimension improves after focused effort is earning more runway, while one that does not move after a genuine attempt is giving you the answer. Re-running too often on noisy weekly data is unhelpful; re-running after real changes is where it earns its keep.

general Calculator Guide

How to Use Ship-or-Kill Decision Score

The Ship-or-Kill Decision Score evaluates your project on multiple dimensions including user traction, revenue signal, time invested, competing opportunities, and emotional attachment to produce an actionable verdict.

5 STEPSPublished Apr 7, 2026Updated May 27, 2026Live Content

By AI Biz Hub

Bottom Line

This tool scores your side project across traction, market signal, effort invested, and opportunity cost to deliver a SHIP, ITERATE, or KILL recommendation.

Best Next MoveMake the Call

Ship-or-Kill Decision Score

Get a brutally honest SHIP, ITERATE, or KILL verdict on your side project based on traction and market signal.

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On This Page

Overview 5 steps Scenarios FAQ

What It Does

Use the calculator with intent

Founders and makers struggling to decide whether a side project deserves more time or should be abandoned.

Interpreting Results

Read the verdict alongside the dimension breakdown rather than as a single number. SHIP means traction and economics justify going harder; KILL means the signal is absent and the opportunity cost is real; ITERATE means one or two dimensions are dragging an otherwise viable project down. The honest move is to act on the weakest dimension, and to treat hours already spent as sunk: they explain your attachment but should not buy the project more time on their own.

Input Steps

Field by field

1

Enter effort invested

Enter total hours spent so far and hours you can put in per week. These set the opportunity-cost dimension. Be honest about hours already spent; they are sunk and should not, on their own, justify continuing, but the engine uses them to weigh how much more runway you are committing.
2

Enter traction

Enter paying customers, MRR, free users, and week-over-week growth. Paying customers and revenue are the strongest signals; free users matter only as a top-of-funnel pool. Growth percent is what separates a project gaining momentum from one quietly stalling.
3

Enter economics and market

Enter monthly cost, monthly revenue, number of competitors, your distribution channel, and your differentiation. A project that is cash-negative with many competitors and no clear edge scores low even if you enjoy building it.
4

Read the verdict and dimensions

Read the composite score, the SHIP, ITERATE, or KILL verdict, the per-dimension breakdown, and the suggested next steps. The dimension scores tell you why: a project can score low overall but reveal one strong dimension worth doubling down on, or one fatal weakness to fix before continuing.
5

Re-run after a focused sprint

If the verdict is ITERATE, pick the weakest dimension, run a focused sprint against it, and re-run. The tool is most useful as a recurring checkpoint: a project that does not move its weakest dimension after a genuine effort is usually telling you to kill it.

Common Scenarios

Use realistic starting points

Early traction, worth iterating

Paying customers / MRR

5 / 100

Week-over-week growth

Hours spent

200

A handful of paying customers and steady growth usually scores ITERATE rather than KILL. Watch which dimension is weakest; that is the focus for the next sprint before you re-run.

No signal after heavy effort

Paying customers / MRR

0 / 0

Hours spent

500

Competitors / differentiation

many / none

Heavy hours with zero revenue, no differentiation, and a crowded market pushes the verdict toward KILL. Watch how little the sunk hours move the score; that is the tool refusing to reward the sunk-cost fallacy.

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FAQ

Questions people ask next

The short answers readers usually want after the first pass.

No. Hours already invested are a sunk cost: they are gone whether you continue or stop, so they should not by themselves justify more time. This is the sunk-cost fallacy, and it is the single most common reason makers keep projects alive past the point of evidence. The score uses your hours to weigh opportunity cost going forward, not to reward the past. Decide on the strength of current traction and the likely return on the next hours, not on what you have already burned.

Sources & References

The Sunk Cost Fallacy — The Decision Lab
The Real Startup Book: Pivot or Persevere — Eric Ries

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