Wants
Unmet demand sensed across every Startup becomes graded Evidence on a Problem, and a refundable deposit proves it before anything is built.
When building costs almost nothing, the scarce thing is demand. StartupBuilder records every unmet want as graded Evidence on a Problem, and asks for a refundable deposit before anything is built.
Where wants come from
A want is never typed in. It is written when someone acts on a need that no Offer meets, and each source writes Evidence at the grade its act deserves.
| Where | What happened | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Agent request | a buying agent asks for an Offer and nothing matches | behavior |
| Empty search | a Visitor searches a Site and finds nothing | behavior |
| Uncovered request | a Customer asks support for something no Offer covers | behavior |
| Refused Order | an Order fails because no Offer can fill it | behavior |
| Waitlist join | a Visitor joins the line for an Offer that is not open | behavior |
| Interview answer | an ICP member describes the last time the Problem cost them | behavior |
| Deposit | a buyer pays a refundable deposit on a reserve Offer | commitment |
| Stated wish | someone says they would use it | opinion |
Opinion stays on the record and weighs zero. Frequency, urgency, and willingness to pay are computed from the Evidence, never entered as fields.
The want ledger
The want ledger is one read across every Startup in the Portfolio. It ranks Problems by the outside Evidence behind them and shows the distinct ICP members who asked. It is a Dashboard over the kept record, not a separate store.
A Problem that 40 people hit this month, with three deposits, outranks one with 400 opinions. The Studio drafts new Startups from the top of the ledger, so their first buyers exist before their first Page.
When such a Startup goes Live, everyone who asked and agreed to hear back is told first. A Dormant Startup stays subscribed to its Problem and wakes when commitment-grade Evidence returns.
One Startup's Customers never become another Startup's prospects by default. Wants cross between Startups as counts per Problem, and a person's identity crosses only with their Consent.
Reserve-first
Reserve-first is a new Startup's first test: a reserve page, published on day one, that takes a refundable deposit on the real Offer. The page states the Problem in the ICP's own words, the approach, the Price, and a deliver-by date.
A deposit is an authorization against that Price. If the Startup misses its date, every deposit refunds automatically, so the buyer risks nothing but attention.
Deposits are commitment-grade Evidence, the strongest grade a Startup can collect before it has a Product. Saying yes is free; paying is not.
A meal-planning app for people with celiac disease posts its reserve page at $9 a month, with a $9 deposit and a 30-day date. A payroll tax-table Dataset API for developers posts at $400 a month with a $40 deposit. Within two weeks each knows whether anyone pays.
What a deposit proves
A deposit counts only from an outside buyer: one who shares no owner, Studio account, Agreement, or sibling chain with the Startup. Purchases between sibling Startups are real revenue, reported apart, and never pass a gate.
Commitment-grade Evidence from outside ICP members moves a Startup from Idea to Building. The Building state's one Metric that matters is Committed ICP members.
Simulated buyers can prune variants before real traffic, and their results are graded opinion. A simulated conversion is a claim about buyers, not a buyer, so it never decides a Lifecycle transition.
Wants across the Studio
Sibling Startups race as variants of one Idea. Each takes a different ICP or approach, opens its own reserve page, and is judged on deposits. The losers go Dormant and keep their Evidence.
An audience is a source of wants too. A creator's comments, questions, and complaints read as Evidence on Problems. The Studio drafts two or three Startups for that audience, each with a reserve page, and offers the creator equity for distribution.
Every Startup writes to the same record, so each new Startup starts with the demand that every earlier one sensed.
Next
- Test demand: the cheapest test that settles each Hypothesis.
- Problem interview: Evidence from the people who have the Problem.
- Experimentation: how every change becomes a test.