Finding where to build
What is a space, and how do I compare two?
Why it works this way
A space card says who is stuck, and gives the honest case against building there.
The space answers the money question, and the problem answers the reality question. Neither borrows the other's job. We show what people already pay when we found it, and we leave out market sizes and growth rates, because we cannot link a page that backs them.
What we gave up: market sizes, a "high money" label, and cards that look fuller than the evidence.
What it is
A space is a patch of the market you could build in. It is not a problem yet. When you start from a market, a profession, a hunch or a company's website, the first page shows a handful of space cards, and each one says:
- The shift in one sentence, and, when we found one, what people already pay today.
- Why now, as short lines. A line with a link comes from a page we read. A line without one says it comes from general knowledge, so you check it yourself.
- Under Read more: who is stuck, what we call the honest case against it (Before you bet), search interest and who is hiring where we could read them. On spaces found from a market, a profession or a hunch there is also Holds if, which is what has to stay true for it to be worth building in two years.
When we cannot back a figure or a money line, the card says "our estimate". For a company's website, a card may also say whether the company is exploring this now.
How to use it
- Read the cards. Open Read more on the ones that interest you.
- To take one forward, press the card. A full discovery starts there, and the card is marked "Your board" every time you come back to the page.
- To weigh two or more, tick them. A bar counts them and offers Ask experts. It writes the questions to put to people who already work in those spaces. It does not find or contact them for you.
- While a test on these cards is open, the cards carry "Being tested" and a banner says how many spaces are under test. Open the test, Settle the test or Stop the test releases them. See How do I compare options and make the call?.
What it will never do
- Pick a space for you. Taking one is your press, and ticking two does not take either.
- Hide the case against a space. Every card carries Before you bet.
- Present an unbacked figure as fact. When we cannot back it, the card says "our estimate".
If something looks off
- You see fewer cards than you expected. The number varies from one search to the next. You can start a new board from a different starting point.
- Search interest or Hiring is missing. We could not read it, which is not a verdict on the space. Search interest goes quiet on specialist work.
- A line says "our estimate". We could not link it to a page. Older boards may say it on more lines than newer ones.
- These cards are in a test. A test is open on them. Settle or stop it to release them.
- You tick one card. Nothing is offered, because one tick is not a comparison. Press the card to take it forward.
- Where did this come from? The N sources button opens "Sources we read", a list of the live pages we read for these cards. They are leads to test, not proof.