The Simplest Way to Think About Niche Scoring (Technical Founders)

Treat niche scoring like requirements gathering for the market layer. You would not ship code without input shape verified. Same logic for the niche.

The System

Five candidate niches. Five criteria scored one to ten. Sum the scores. Pick the highest. Schedule problem interviews against it.

The Criteria

Reachability (can you reach without paid ads). Pain frequency (daily/weekly/monthly trigger). Existing spend (do they currently pay for adjacent tools). Differentiation (specific mechanism vs slogan). Builder-fit (unfair advantage you actually have).

The Reframe

Each criterion is one input parameter to the system that is your product-market fit. Inputs you cannot specify produce systems you cannot ship. Scoring forces specification before commitment.

Just Run It

Fifteen minutes. The exercise feels uncomfortable because the technically exciting niche rarely wins. That discomfort is the data.