User guide

How WedgeMap works, in five minutes

1. What WedgeMap is

WedgeMap watches indie product launches continuously, works out which ones show real demand, and sells the analysis. Browsing is free. When a product looks interesting, a paid Wedge Brief gives you the full teardown: how it works under the hood, how it gets customers, where it is weak, and the opening we would take.

2. The Drops radar

Drops is the live radar: products caught while they are still rising. Every card carries a name, one sentence of what the product is, and exactly three facts. Nothing on the radar was submitted or paid for placement; it all comes from public launch feeds, which for now are Hacker News, Reddit, GitHub, Product Hunt, BetaList and TinyLaunch.

3. The three facts on every card

• Where is the demand coming from? The reading runs between two poles: Founder’s audience at one end and Real market pull at the other, with Leans on the founder and Mixedin between. Real market pull means demand from people with no connection to the founder, and it is the stronger signal by far. Traction that rides a founder’s own audience usually does not transfer to anyone else.
• Revenue estimate. What we think the product earns each month, always shown with how we know it. A solid marker means someone stated or verified the figure; a dashed one means we inferred it. When there is nothing real to go on we say No basis to estimate rather than guessing. Estimates are being rolled out across the radar now, so some products still show the empty state.
• Could you build it? Written as time, for example about three weeks. A product only earns a build time if it passes both tests: buildable inside 45 days, and nothing locks the market up (no patent, no network effect, no proprietary data).

A Rising badge means independent sources are picking the product up right now.

4. The scores behind the words

Every verdict word is backed by a number from 0 to 100. On product pages they sit behind one disclosure, and each carries its plain meaning. Above 66 is strong, 34 to 66 is fair, below 34 is weak.

• Traction:how much demand shows up from people outside the founder’s own circle.
• Copyability: how feasible it is for a competent builder to ship something comparable.
• Wedge potential: how much room is left for a new entrant: gaps, ignored segments, pricing openings.
• Monetization: how much evidence there is that people actually pay: visible pricing, revenue claims, a paid tier in use.
• Moat risk: how protected they are. Low is good news for a new entrant.
• Founder reach: how big an audience the founder can reach without paying for it. High is a warning, not a compliment.
• Revenue confidence: how much we trust the revenue picture, based on who said it and whether anything corroborates it.
• Track record and Amplifier network: whether the founder has shipped and grown things before, and how many well-followed people reliably boost their launches.

5. Claims, not facts

Everything we publish about a product is a claim with a source, never an audited fact. Each one is labelled: Founder stated it, Verified by a third party, Our estimate, or Unverified mention. The rule is simple: a solid border means someone said it or verified it, a dashed border means we worked it out ourselves.

6. Previews and briefs

Every product page shows a free preview: the three answers, what it is, the one thing to know, and the detection evidence with its sources. The paid Wedge Brief ($49) adds the parts you act on: how it works under the hood, how it gets customers, where it is weak, the opening we would take, and a bottom line. The Deep Report ($149) extends that with channel strategy, a 30-day launch plan, and risk notes.

7. Buying and your library

• Sign in with a magic link. Your email is your account, and there is no password.
• Pick a product, choose a tier, and pay through Stripe checkout.
• The brief generates within about a minute. You get an email when it is ready, and it unlocks on the product page.
• Everything you have bought lives in your Library, permanently. Purchases are one-time, and there is no subscription.

8. What WedgeMap will not do

Briefs are original strategy analysis. They never reproduce a product’s copy, design, name, logo, or testimonials, and they are not a kit for cloning someone’s work. Traction claims are evidence with attribution, never guarantees. What you build with the analysis is your call and your responsibility.

Questions? See the FAQ or email info@earlyforgestudios.com.