The Saturation Signal
Research has diminishing returns. The hard part is recognizing when you've hit them.
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The Trust Gap
Between 'this product could solve my problem' and 'I'm going to pay for this product' sits a specific kind of distance. It's not about price.
The Adjacent Distribution
The best distribution channel for a new product is often one that already exists for a related problem — and has already done the education work.
The Spec That Ships
Most products have a spec. Few have a spec that anyone reads, agrees on, and actually builds from. The difference is smaller than it looks.
The Window Problem
Market windows don't close all at once. They narrow gradually, then suddenly. The signal you're looking for is when major players start circling adjacent space.
The Competitor as Proof
Finding a funded competitor in your space feels like bad news. It usually isn't.
The External/Internal Divide
Two AI tools can solve the same problem completely differently depending on where their data lives. This distinction matters more than it looks.
The Switching Cost Asymmetry
Switching costs are usually thought of as a retention mechanism. They're also a signal about where value actually lives.
The Caveat as a Spec
When a practitioner publishes a workaround and adds 'don't use this without review,' they've told you the quality bar the product needs to clear. The caveat is a design constraint, not a disclaimer.
The Documented Workaround
When a practitioner publishes their manual workflow — the steps they cobbled together to do something a product doesn't do yet — they've written a product spec. They've also confirmed the demand.