01 — Market signal
Search demand has remained strong and stable across three years, with no seasonal collapse.
Business opportunities, investigated.
Find your next business. With evidence.
Tell us your budget, skills, location, and timeline. We research and rank business opportunities you can realistically launch, then show you the evidence behind every recommendation.
Full opportunity analysis from $12.99 · One-time payment · No subscription required
- Every major claim is cited
- Current market research
- Independent verdicts
Case file 001
Every verdict leaves a paper trail.
We show you what we found, what worried us, and why an opportunity earned its place on the shortlist.
Case file 001 / Verdict issued
Sample case file
Mobile Car Detailing for Apartment Complexes
Verdict
GO
Opportunity score
88 / 100
Founder fit
94%
Strong demand, low startup cost, and a realistic path to first revenue within weeks.
Demand
High
Competition
Medium
Startup cost
$1.2K to $2.5K
Time to revenue
1 to 2 weeks
Why it ranked first
It fits the founder's budget and time constraints, reaches revenue quickly, and targets property managers rather than individual consumers, which shortens the sales cycle.
02 — Competitor signal
Competition is fragmented rather than dominated by one major player.
03 — Risk
Low barrier to entry means differentiation will matter more than speed.
Source trail
14 cited sources
- 01Search demand
- 02Local competitor websites
- 03Property manager forums
- 04Pricing pages
- +10 more
Categories of evidence, not partnerships. Each cited source in a real investigation carries its own confidence tier.
Investigator's notes
- Demand
- Confirmed
- Competition
- Manageable
- Constraint
- Check local water restrictions
- Founder fit
- Strong
Worth a closer look.
Recent investigations
Sample investigationsNot every idea makes the cut.
Each opportunity is investigated, scored, and challenged before it earns a recommendation.
OpportunityScoreStartup costCompetitionVerdict
How the analysis works
Six steps. Know what's worth pursuing.
We start with your situation, investigate the market, challenge the strongest opportunities, and give you a ranked verdict backed by evidence.
Tell us about yourself
Your budget, skills, location, experience, available time, and what you actually want to build.
We find opportunities
We generate business opportunities that fit your profile, then eliminate ideas that don't match your constraints.
We check the market
We look for real demand, competitors, market activity, customer pain points, pricing, and signs that people are already spending money.
We investigate the best ones
The strongest opportunities get a deeper analysis of startup costs, competition, customer acquisition, revenue potential, and barriers to entry.
We try to kill the idea
We actively look for reasons each opportunity could fail: bad economics, saturated markets, regulation, weak demand, or unrealistic assumptions.
You get the verdict
Your opportunities are ranked with scores, evidence, risks, and clear recommendations on what is worth pursuing, and what isn't.
The critic pass
We're not here to tell you every idea is good.
Most idea generators are designed to give you possibilities. The Detective is designed to eliminate bad bets.
What we actively look for
Case closed
Sample rejection
General dropshipping storefront
Opportunity score
34 / 100
Verdict
NO-GO
Failed 5 of 7 critical checks
The economics, competition, and lack of differentiation do not justify the risk for this founder.
Why we walked away
02 — Competition
Established, better-capitalised sellers dominate the category.
03 — Economics
Paid acquisition costs exceed the realistic first-order margin.
05 — Acquisition
Customer acquisition stays expensive without an existing audience.
06 — Assumptions
The model depends on conversion and return rates that are too optimistic.
07 — Founder advantage
No meaningful distribution, sourcing, or brand advantage exists.
Recommendation
Walk away and redirect the budget toward opportunities with stronger founder fit and less acquisition pressure.
Case closed.
Why The Detective
Ideas are easy. Knowing which ones survive is harder.
General AI is useful for exploring possibilities. The Detective is built to investigate them before you spend your time and money.
Brainstorm
“This could work.”
Mobile detailing
AI automation agency
Short-stay cleaning
Vending machines
Local bookkeeping
Plausible ideas
Broad possibilities
Starting assumptions
The investigation
Every candidate is put through the same six questions.
Demand
Is anyone actually looking for this
Competition
Who already owns this, and how well
Economics
Does the money work at a realistic price
Founder fit
Can you execute it with what you have
Risk
What quietly kills this in month three
Evidence
Does a real source back each claim
Did not survive
General dropshipping34 / 100 · NO-GO
Vending machines48 / 100 · NO-GO
AI automation agency61 / 100 · NO-GO
Verdict
Sample investigationMobile detailing for apartment complexes
Opportunity score
88 / 100
Verdict
GO
Why it survived
Strong demand
Manageable competition
Low startup cost
Strong founder fit
14 cited sources
Brainstorming gives you possibilities.
Investigation tells you what deserves your next six months.
How we score
A score you can actually interrogate.
Every opportunity is broken into seven weighted factors, each judged from 0 to 5. The total is recomputed from the parts, so you can check the arithmetic yourself.
Weighted factors
Sample breakdownFactorRatingWeightContribution
Founder fitCan you actually execute this now5/52222
Market sizeEnough money at a realistic price5/51515
Problem intensityReal, frequent, painful4/51814.4
Time to revenueSpeed to cash on your budget5/51414
CompetitionWhitespace versus crowding4/5129.6
Constraint fitClears your budget, time and skills5/599
MoatAny path to a structural advantage2/5104
Founder fit22
Can you actually execute this now
Rating 5/5 · Weight 22
Market size15
Enough money at a realistic price
Rating 5/5 · Weight 15
Problem intensity14.4
Real, frequent, painful
Rating 4/5 · Weight 18
Time to revenue14
Speed to cash on your budget
Rating 5/5 · Weight 14
Competition9.6
Whitespace versus crowding
Rating 4/5 · Weight 12
Constraint fit9
Clears your budget, time and skills
Rating 5/5 · Weight 9
Moat4
Any path to a structural advantage
Rating 2/5 · Weight 10
Opportunity score
88 / 100
- Strongest
- Founder fit · 22 pts
- Weakest
- Moat · 4 pts
Method
Σ (rating ÷ 5 × weight)
Weights sum to 100 and the total is recomputed from the seven factors rather than asserted, so it always reconciles with the breakdown.
See how we score opportunitiesFounder fit
The best business depends on who's building it.
The same opportunity can be a strong fit for one founder and a poor fit for another. The Detective ranks ideas for your situation, not for the average entrepreneur.
Same opportunity
Sample profilesMobile detailing for apartment complexes
Founder AFounder B
BudgetUnder $1,000$5,000
ExperienceNoneOperations and service work
Hours per weekUnder 515
Cold outreachNot willingWilling
Target income$3,000 / month$3,000 / month
Timeline1 month6 months
Founder fit2 / 55 / 5
Why it strugglesToo little time and budget to reach paying customers, and the work has to be sold by pitching property managers.Why it worksThe budget, the hours and a willingness to pitch support a realistic launch path.
Founder A
BudgetUnder $1,000
ExperienceNone
Hours per weekUnder 5
Cold outreachNot willing
Target income$3,000 / month
Timeline1 month
Founder fit
2 / 5
Why it struggles
Too little time and budget to reach paying customers, and the work has to be sold by pitching property managers.
Founder B
Budget$5,000
ExperienceOperations and service work
Hours per week15
Cold outreachWilling
Target income$3,000 / month
Timeline6 months
Founder fit
5 / 5
Why it works
The budget, the hours and a willingness to pitch support a realistic launch path.
A good opportunity in the wrong hands is still a bad bet.
Follow the evidence
Verify the reasoning yourself.
Important claims link back to their sources so you can see where the conclusion came from, and how much weight it deserves.
The kinds of evidence we look at
Search demand
Competitor websites
Review platforms
Community discussions
Public datasets
Pricing pages
Market reports
Industry publications
Categories, not partnerships. We read what is publicly available at the time of your investigation; we do not have private feeds or vendor integrations.
14 cited sourcesSample
Every source carries a confidence tier
- Primary
- Original data, filings, first-hand records
- Industry
- Trade bodies and sector analysts
- Media
- Reporting and general publications
- Low
- Thin or unverifiable, and labelled as such
A weak source is shown as weak. We never quietly promote thin evidence to make a conclusion look stronger than it is.
Built for
For people ready to do something, not collect ideas.
This is for choosing what deserves your time, money and attention, not for generating another list of possibilities.
01
Aspiring founder
You know you want to start something.
What you need to decide
What business actually fits my budget, skills and timeline?
02
Developer
You can build almost anything.
What you need to decide
What is worth spending the next six months building?
03
Operator
You know how to run a business.
What you need to decide
Where is the next opportunity with better economics?
04
Creator
You already have distribution or an audience.
What you need to decide
What niche can I realistically monetise without forcing the fit?
05
Founder considering a pivot
The current direction is not working.
What you need to decide
What should I move toward before I spend more time on the wrong thing?
The opportunity only matters if it works for you.
Pricing
Start with one investigation. Keep going when it's worth it.
Start with one complete investigation for $12.99. Upgrade when you want The Detective continuously searching for your next opportunity.
One-time purchase
Starter
$12.99once
1 investigation
No subscription
Every investigation
- Investigations / month
- 1 total
- Opportunities ranked
- 5
- Deep dives
- 1
- Cited evidence
Tracking
- Opportunity monitoring
- —
- Opportunity alerts
- —
- Project tracking
- —
Advanced tools
- Playbook builder
- —
- Monthly strategy call
- —
Ongoing plan
Explorer
$16.99/ month
Billed annually at $203.88
Save $96 a year
4 investigations / month
About one per week
Every investigation
- Investigations / month
- 4
- Opportunities ranked
- 5
- Deep dives
- 1
- Cited evidence
Tracking
- Opportunity monitoring
- Opportunity alerts
- Project tracking
- —
Advanced tools
- Playbook builder
- —
- Monthly strategy call
- —
Ongoing plan
Hunter
$66.99/ month
Billed annually at $803.88
Save $384 a year
10 investigations / month
About one every 3 days
Best for founders actively searching
Every investigation
- Investigations / month
- 10
- Opportunities ranked
- 10
- Deep dives
- 1
- Cited evidence
Tracking
- Opportunity monitoring
- Opportunity alerts
- Project tracking
Advanced tools
- Playbook builder
- Monthly strategy call
- —
Ongoing plan
Operator
$199.99/ month
Billed annually at $2,399.88
Save $1,188 a year
30 investigations / month
Up to one per day
Every investigation
- Investigations / month
- 30
- Opportunities ranked
- 20
- Deep dives
- 1
- Cited evidence
Tracking
- Opportunity monitoring
- Opportunity alerts
- Project tracking
- Multi project
Advanced tools
- Playbook builder
- Monthly strategy call
- 30 min
One-time purchase
Starter
$12.99once
1 investigation
No subscription
Ongoing plan
Explorer
$16.99/ month
Billed annually at $203.88
Save $96 a year
4 investigations / month
About one per week
Most popular
Ongoing plan
Hunter
$66.99/ month
Billed annually at $803.88
Save $384 a year
10 investigations / month
About one every 3 days
Best for founders actively searching
Ongoing plan
Operator
$199.99/ month
Billed annually at $2,399.88
Save $1,188 a year
30 investigations / month
Up to one per day
Every investigation
Investigations / month
1 total
4
10
30
Opportunities ranked
5
5
10
20
Deep dives
1
1
1
1
Cited evidence
Tracking
Opportunity monitoring
Opportunity alerts
Project tracking
Multi project
Advanced tools
Playbook builder
Monthly strategy call
30 min
No surprises
Seven day money back
Full refund inside seven days of your first charge on any ongoing plan. Cancel later and your current cycle finishes, then billing stops.
Your research stays yours
Save any analysis as a PDF or copy it as markdown. Yours to keep after you cancel.
Change plans anytime
Upgrade or cancel from your dashboard. Upgrades are prorated; downgrades start at your next renewal.
FAQ
Questions before you investigate?
How is this different from asking a general AI assistant?
An assistant is good at producing plausible ideas from your prompt. The Detective starts from your situation, searches for opportunities you did not name, ranks them against seven weighted factors, checks them against real sources, and is willing to conclude that none of them are worth your money.
Where does the evidence come from?
Publicly available material gathered at the time of your investigation: search demand, competitor sites, review platforms, community discussions, public datasets, pricing pages and industry publications. Every cited source carries a confidence tier of primary, industry, media or low, and low-tier sources are shown as low.
How current is the research?
The research runs when you submit, not from a cached library, so it reflects what was findable that day. Each report is a snapshot of that moment and is dated accordingly.
Can The Detective tell me an idea is bad?
Yes, and it does. Every deep dive ends in a verdict: GO means the evidence supports building, NO_GO means the evidence supports walking away. A third label, REFUSED, means the preflight gate found the niche unresearchable or inside an industry we do not cover.
How long does an investigation take?
Most land in 5 to 15 minutes after you submit. The dashboard shows live status while it runs, so you do not need to refresh.
What do I get for $12.99?
One complete investigation: five ranked opportunities plus a full deep dive on the top one, with a fit radar, the seven-factor score, a 30 day play with day-numbered actions, honest kill conditions, a counterargument against the recommendation, a competitive pre-mortem, and a stack playbook. Every claim cites a real source.
Can I investigate a specific idea I already have?
Yes, through Idea Lab, which takes your idea, target customer and advantage as inputs and runs a full investigation against them. It is available on Explorer, Hunter and Operator, and uses one of that month's cycles. It is not part of the one-time Starter purchase.
Do I need a subscription?
No. Starter is a one-time $12.99 purchase and stays that way. The ongoing plans exist for people who want to keep investigating, and the $12.99 credits toward your first month if you upgrade within 30 days.
Can I export my investigation?
Yes. Delivered investigations are downloadable from your dashboard, and you can save any of them as a PDF or copy them as markdown. They stay in your account read-only after you cancel.
What happens after I find an opportunity I like?
The deep dive ships with a 30 day play of day-numbered actions, the kill conditions that should make you stop, and a stack playbook at three budget levels. On the ongoing plans you can also track the project and keep monitoring the opportunity as conditions change.
More detail on the full FAQ.
Find out what's worth pursuing.
Five minutes to tell us about yourself. Your complete investigation is usually delivered within 15 minutes.
$12.99 one time · No subscription required
Not ready? See a sample investigation.