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Business · 100 lists · 100 items · 5 min read

100 Market-Hole Patterns

Templates that produce product ideas which should work, at least by logic. Take one pattern, plug in a market, and you get an idea.

Sections
  1. What the leader structurally can't do (1–25)
  2. Assembly = product (26–38)
  3. Transpose: same idea, different audience (39–60)
  4. Slice, unbundle, build around (61–70)
  5. Timing holes (71–80)
  6. Customer-signal holes (81–88)
  7. Business-model holes (89–95)
  8. AI-era holes (96–100)

What the leader structurally can't do (1–25)#

  1. A self-hosted version of a SaaS tool. The leader depends on hosting revenue. Example: beehiiv inside WordPress.
  2. A hosted version of a self-hosted tool. Some users want the tool but not the server.
  3. No revenue cut where the leader takes a percentage. Substack takes 10% and can't drop it.
  4. A one-time price where the leader only sells subscriptions. A company judged on recurring revenue can't do this.
  5. Public pricing where the leader says "contact sales."
  6. A cheaper version after the leader moves upmarket. A leader's minimum price keeps rising over time.
  7. A premium version (support, SLA, compliance) of a tool built for individuals.
  8. Privacy-first where the leader makes money from data. Example: Plausible vs. Google Analytics.
  9. An EU-hosted version of a US tool.
  10. No lock-in and full export, where lock-in is the leader's moat.
  11. An open-source version of a closed tool. Sell the hosting and support.
  12. A simple version of a complex tool. The leader can't remove features its big customers use.
  13. An opinionated version of a flexible tool. Example: Ghost vs. WordPress.
  14. A version of a general tool for one industry. "Newsletter for local news."
  15. Local language and local payment methods where the leader is English-only and Stripe-only.
  16. A neutral tool where the leader competes with its own users.
  17. "You own your audience" where the leader owns the network (the Substack app).
  18. No algorithm and no ads where the leader lives on ads.
  19. Human-made or verified where the leader goes all-AI.
  20. Built around AI from day one where the leader adds AI onto an old UI.
  21. Works offline / on your own machine where the leader is cloud-only.
  22. Users left behind when a product shuts down. Example: Google Reader → Feedly.
  23. Users neglected after an acquisition.
  24. Users priced out by a price hike.
  25. Legal niches a leader refuses by policy (high-risk payments, regulated industries).

Assembly = product (26–38)#

  1. Stack in a box. The 5 tools one audience uses, combined into one product.
  2. Glue between two tools that don't talk to each other.
  3. The workflow between tools, wherever people copy-paste today.
  4. Business in a box for one industry. A local news site = theme + paywall + newsletter + ads + events.
  5. Templates and kits on top of a popular tool.
  6. Done-for-you setup of a complex tool.
  7. Managed hosting of an open-source tool for one niche.
  8. The full journey for one role. Write → grow → earn → measure.
  9. One dashboard for data spread across 5 tools (Stripe + ads + subscriptions).
  10. A migration tool between two platforms (Substack → WP).
  11. An onboarding layer. The tool is fine; the first 30 days are hard.
  12. A compliance pack for one niche (GDPR, accessibility, cookies).
  13. A starter kit for a new platform.

Transpose: same idea, different audience (39–60)#

  1. Product X for platform Y. Shopify app → WP plugin, WP plugin → Ghost/Framer.
  2. Country A → country B.
  3. Industry A → industry B.
  4. Enterprise → small business. Example: Salesforce → Pipedrive.
  5. Pro → beginner. Example: Photoshop → Canva.
  6. Beginner → pro, for users who outgrew the easy tool.
  7. B2C → B2B, or B2B → prosumers.
  8. Desktop → web → mobile → inside chat (a Claude or ChatGPT app, an MCP server).
  9. Agency service → software.
  10. Software → service, for people who won't do it themselves.
  11. A manual offline service → online.
  12. Spreadsheet → app. Every popular spreadsheet template is an app idea.
  13. A GitHub script → a hosted product for non-coders.
  14. API → UI, or UI → API.
  15. Command-line tool → GUI.
  16. Popular tutorial → one-click tool. If 50k people a month read "how to X," sell X.
  17. Popular Fiverr gig → a productized tool.
  18. Popular Zapier zap → a dedicated app.
  19. A question that keeps coming up in forums → a tool.
  20. An idea that failed 10 years ago, retried now that the timing has changed.
  21. Old idea + AI, done at a tenth of the old cost.
  22. A habit moving to a new medium (radio → podcast → newsletter → ?).

Slice, unbundle, build around (61–70)#

  1. Unbundle one feature and make it the best version.
  2. Unbundle by persona. The same tool, only for editors.
  3. The most-requested feature the leader has ignored for years. Check their public roadmap and forums.
  4. Add-ons for a big product (the WooCommerce extensions pattern).
  5. The ecosystem around a hit product. Themes, integrations, training, hosting.
  6. Tools that go with a new hit (for Claude Code users, for Substack writers).
  7. A tool for a rare or yearly event (an election coverage kit for news sites).
  8. The last mile. The tool does 80%, and customers struggle with the last 20%.
  9. The back office for a customer-facing tool (billing, reports, team management).
  10. A quality layer. Checkers, validators, audits.

Timing holes (71–80)#

  1. A new regulation → a compliance tool (the EU Accessibility Act).
  2. A platform shutdown or API change → a replacement.
  3. A price hike → a cheaper alternative.
  4. A new marketplace opens → be in the first 100 listings.
  5. A new API is released → be the first app that uses it.
  6. A cost collapse (AI translation) makes features that were too expensive possible.
  7. An algorithm shock (a Google update hits publishers) → tools that shift traffic to email.
  8. Recurring calendar events (elections, sports seasons, Black Friday).
  9. A trend wave → sell picks and shovels, don't mine the gold.
  10. A shift in how people live or work (remote work, aging, the creator economy).

Customer-signal holes (81–88)#

  1. The top 1-star complaint about a competitor → a product that fixes only that.
  2. Search volume for "X alternative" → build the alternative.
  3. Whatever people hire a virtual assistant for → automate it.
  4. Your own repetitive task → productize it.
  5. A tool you built for your own business → sell it (Basecamp, Slack).
  6. Your most repeated support tickets → a product.
  7. Wherever your customers spend their next dollar.
  8. A job people hack together with 3 plugins → one plugin.

Business-model holes (89–95)#

  1. The same product with a different pricing model (usage-based, per site).
  2. A paid pro layer or paid support for a popular free open-source tool.
  3. A curated directory where the information is scattered.
  4. A data product built from public data nobody has organized.
  5. A marketplace where only directories exist today.
  6. A guarantee layer. "Done, or your money back."
  7. Education, community or certification around a popular tool.

AI-era holes (96–100)#

  1. An AI agent that does one role's job end to end (for a 3-person newsroom).
  2. An MCP server or plugin for a popular tool that doesn't have one.
  3. Making things readable to AI (GEO and llms.txt for WordPress sites).
  4. A trust layer where AI content floods in (provenance, fact-checking).
  5. A service with AI inside, sold at software margins.

Best fit for the newsletter-in-WordPress plan: #1, #3, #17, #29, #35. Each one is a gap Substack or beehiiv can't close because of how their business works.