Don’t waste six months on the wrong business idea.

One honest catch

Regulatory dependency: if the EU softens CSRD scope (already happening, the Omnibus simplification package in early 2026 raised the SMB threshold to 1,000 employees in some sectors), your TAM can shrink overnight. Watch policy carefully.

One honest catch

Regulatory + compliance exposure: distributing retirement plan documents is regulated. You need genuine legal review, plan-document attorney relationships, and likely IRS Prototype Plan Document sponsorship, none of which is cheap or fast.

One honest catch

Google periodically changes its review policies and API terms without warning. In 2021 they cracked down on review gating (asking unhappy customers not to post). Your negative-review interception feature walks this legal line, a policy shift could force a core product change overnight.

One honest catch

Stripe could ship native MRR and churn analytics in their own dashboard any quarter. They've been steadily improving their reporting, and one feature release could obsolete most of your value prop for the free Stripe-only users you depend on for word-of-mouth.

One honest catch

Voice AI is commoditizing fast. Vapi, Retell, and Bland hand everyone the same underlying capability, your moat has to be vertical depth (trade-specific scripts, integrations, sales motion), not the tech, which any competitor can replicate in a weekend.

One honest catch

Operating as a true health insurance co-op requires state-by-state licenses, a process that costs $500,000–$1M+ in legal fees and takes years before you can legally serve members in multiple states.