The current surrogacy market is inefficient, with agencies acting as siloed gatekeepers. The opportunity is to create a centralized marketplace—like a dating app—that matches intended parents with surrogates based on complex preferences. This solves the discovery problem and creates a more efficient, transparent system than the current fragmented model.

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Presented with the "LinkedIn for AI" problem, the designer's first step isn't visual design. It's product strategy: clarifying the core objective (e.g., matchmaking, certification), identifying the target user groups (job seekers, employers), and defining what "a good match" even means in this new context.

The concept of a vast 'mating marketplace' driven by immediate value signals is a recent phenomenon. Evolutionarily, humans formed bonds based on long-term compatibility within small, familiar tribes, suggesting that today's dating apps create an unnatural and potentially detrimental dynamic.

To discover high-value AI use cases, reframe the problem. Instead of thinking about features, ask, "If my user had a human assistant for this workflow, what tasks would they delegate?" This simple question uncovers powerful opportunities where agents can perform valuable jobs, shifting focus from technology to user value.

In the past, information was scarce, making ventures like "Little Blue Books" massive successes. Today, information is abundant, but belonging is scarce. This shift creates huge business opportunities. Companies like WeRoad, which facilitates group travel for solo professionals, are tapping into this by "curing loneliness" and building a $100M+ business.

Bumble's founder envisions a future where personal AI agents "date" each other to pre-screen for compatibility and deal-breakers. The goal isn't to replace human interaction but to use technology to save users time, energy, and the stress of bad dates by filtering for genuine compatibility upfront.

Enterprise leaders aren't motivated by solving small, specific problems. Founders succeed by "vision casting"—selling a future state or opportunity that gives the buyer a competitive edge ("alpha"). This excites them enough to champion a deal internally.

The race to manage 40 million government-seeded 'Trump baby accounts' shows how a single policy decision can create a massive, winner-take-all market. This allows the government to act as a 'kingmaker,' anointing one or a few companies with a generational customer acquisition opportunity, similar to how the 401k launch benefited Fidelity and Vanguard.

The ability to select embryos fundamentally changes parenthood from an act of acceptance to one of curation. It introduces the risk of "buyer's remorse," where a parent might resent a child for not living up to their pre-selected potential. This undermines the unconditional love that stems from accepting the child you're given by fate.

The belief that you must find an untapped, 'blue ocean' market is a fallacy. In a connected world, every opportunity is visible and becomes saturated quickly. Instead of looking for a secret angle, focus on self-awareness and superior execution within an existing market.

AI-powered VC introduction platforms are not just connectors; they are stringent gatekeepers reflecting the high bar of the current market. By assigning a "grade" and only facilitating introductions for high-scoring decks, these systems programmatically enforce VC standards at scale.

Create an 'eHarmony for Surrogacy' to Unify a Fragmented Market | RiffOn