memola-platforms_skill

Overview

This skill evaluates whether an idea should become a platform and prescribes a phased, low-risk build path to avoid premature scaling. It combines five viability criteria with a clear scoring system and a four-phase execution framework that prioritizes manual validation before automation.

How this skill works

The skill inspects the opportunity across five criteria: problem repetition, information fragmentation, aggregation leverage, niche definition, and MEMOLA fit. It produces a 0–15 score, maps that score to a viability tier, and recommends which one of four irreversible build phases to run next, with concrete success and exit criteria for each phase.

When to use it

• Evaluating whether a multi-party workflow should be turned into a platform.
• Before committing engineering resources or raising platform-focused capital.
• When facing chicken-and-egg adoption uncertainty for two-sided markets.
• To design a staged go-to-market plan that avoids premature automation.
• When assessing whether to pivot a service into a platform or vice versa.

Best practices

• Validate demand manually first: run Phase 1 until you measure repeatable paid transactions.
• Score all five criteria honestly and document evidence for each score.
• Pick and dominate a narrow initial niche with a clearly reachable user persona.
• Automate only when efficiency and unit economics are proven at scale.
• Define explicit phase gates: success metrics, timeline, risks, and exit conditions.

Example use cases

• Turn a fragmented vendor directory into a paid marketplace by proving value through manual matchmaking.
• Assess whether internal tools could become an external workflow platform for adjacent customers.
• Decide whether to scale an assisted-service product into user self-service without losing trust.
• Plan a staged launch: manual curation → internal ops tooling → self-service UI → open ecosystem.
• Evaluate investor or partner roles (build, advise, invest, partner) based on platform maturity.