The only launch metric that matters is paying customers.

No — that is the point. You need an idea and a page describing it.

Demand decides the shortlist. A human reviews the top ten before anything is paid.

Nothing. It is yours, the answers are yours, and it stays up as long as you keep it up.

Because it isn't revenue and we never call it that. It is the cheapest honest signal you can get before building: a confirmed email, and a price they picked with "I wouldn't pay for this" sitting right there as an option. Plenty of people take it. What you get is a floor to argue with, not a forecast — which is why the page says stated demand, not signups.

Every answer is true at more than one price: someone who picks $49 would also pay $19. So we take the price that produces the largest defensible total — 23 people at $19+ beats 3 people at $99 — and print that. Everyone counted really did say they would pay at least that much. It is picked by a rule rather than by you, so nobody gets to choose the flattering version.

The whole build: describe your product, have the page written and drawn for you, edit every word of it, and look at exactly what visitors would see. What you cannot do is publish it — no public URL until you are on a plan.