Pain Point #1: "What is everyone doing for insurance in 2026? … cannot find anything under $1500pp / month… I am at my wits end thinking I have to shut down my business over this.” + “What were the biggest challenges… with a PEO? Pricing transparency… Contract terms… Hidden fees… Hard to compare options… Tech/payroll compatibility.” 
(Posts #41 and #18)

Opportunity: The “PEO-Killer” for 2–50 employees: an ICHRA/QSEHRA-in-a-box with a reverse-auction PEO comparison. One-week switch kit that:
- Instantly models total-cost-of-benefits (PEO vs small-group vs individual-market + ICHRA) by employee ZIP/age
- Auto-sets up a compliant ICHRA/QSEHRA (plan docs, notices, reimbursements, 1095-C/ACA reporting) and payroll sync
- Generates a “leave-your-PEO” termination packet and handles carrier/billing unwinds
- Guarantees a capped premium per employee by optimizing individual plan choices and subsidy capture

Price: $2,500 setup + $25–$45 per employee/month (or success fee: 20% of year-one savings).

First 10 Customers:
- Owners/COOs of 2–25-employee professional services firms (agencies, clinics, accounting, small tech)
- Founders on Justworks/Gusto PEO paying >$1,200 pmpm
- Single-location healthcare practices (dentists, PT/OT clinics) with 3–15 staff
- Construction/field-service shops (5–30 techs) with family coverage pain
- Nonprofits (10–30 FTEs) priced out of small-group renewals

MVP in 48 Hours:
- Typeform intake (headcount, ZIPs, ages, current premiums) + Airtable model + Google Sheets “PEO vs ICHRA vs Small Group” calculator
- Pull ACA plan rates manually (via HealthCare.gov window shopping + broker portals) for 2–3 sample ZIPs
- Use PeopleKeep/Take Command (or comparable) as underlying admin for reimbursements; deliver white-glove setup as a “done-for-you” service
- One-page landing + Calendly + a sample savings report; recruit 3 pilot companies and deliver in 7 days

Justification (infer this in detail):
- Demand: “I… cannot find anything under $1500pp / month… I’m at my wits end…” and “Pricing transparency… Contract terms… Hidden fees… Hard to compare options.” Owners are explicitly stuck and confused.
- ROI: Saving $500–$1,000 per employee/month is common moving from PEO/small-group to ICHRA in many markets. A 5-person shop can save $30k–$60k/year. Immediate, measurable, cash-flow impact.
- Scalable: Standardized quoting model + templated plan docs + existing admin rails (PeopleKeep/Take Command) means low marginal labor. Acquire via brokers and payroll partners; $1M ARR needs ~1,200 covered lives at $35 PEPM.
- Purple Cow/Controversial: “Fire your PEO in 14 days” is a bold promise. Most SMBs don’t realize individual-market + ICHRA is often cheaper and more flexible in 2025/2026. You’re weaponizing transparency and subsidies against opaque PEO bundles.

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Pain Point #2: “how confusing it is to compare AML/KYC vendors. Pricing is unclear, features overlap, and everyone claims to be ‘the best.’”  
(From Post 14)

Opportunity: A head-to-head AML/KYC “bake‑off” platform that runs your own historical or synthetic applicant traffic through multiple KYC/AML providers in parallel for 7 days and outputs a quantified winner: total cost per approved user (API + manual review), pass rate, false‑positive rate, time‑to‑clear, and ops workload. You buy via a reseller contract at pre‑negotiated rates; we take a 10–15% margin or success fee on savings. Price: $7,500 pilot + 10% of first‑year savings; then $1,500/month to keep monitoring and re‑quoting.

First 10 Customers:
- Head of Compliance/Risk at consumer fintechs (cards, neobanks) with 10–200 employees
- Fraud/Trust & Safety Lead at crypto exchanges and brokerages
- COO at BNPL/lending apps doing 5k–200k onboardings/month
- Product Manager, Onboarding/KYC at cross‑border remittance apps
- VP Operations at marketplace platforms adding payments/KYC

MVP in 48 Hours:
- Landing page + Calendly + Typeform intake (industry, monthly onboarding volume, current vendor, pain)
- Airtable scoring model with columns for: price/ID check, watchlist hits, doc/biometric checks, manual review cost, SLA, false positive rate
- Use vendor trial sandboxes + your synthetic test pack (stolen identities, thin files, non‑Latin docs) to produce a manual comparison report in Google Slides
- Deliver 3 bespoke “bake‑off” PDFs to 3 design partners and ask for a yes/no to a paid pilot

Justification:
- Demand: The quote shows core confusion slowing decisions: “Pricing is unclear, features overlap, and everyone claims to be ‘the best.’” Fintech founders repeatedly echo this in practice because wrong KYC kills conversion and explodes ops headcount.
- ROI: Many teams overspend 20–50% on KYC (duplicate checks, high manual review) and lose 5–15% conversion to false positives. For a fintech doing 50k checks/month at $1/check, cutting 20% cost = $120k/year; recapturing 3% conversion at $20 LTV = $360k/year. Payback in weeks.
- Scalable: Integrations are standardized (REST/webhooks). Repeatable playbook per vertical; expand to sanctions, device fraud, KYB. Reseller/affiliate deals compound margin without adding headcount.
- Purple Cow/Controversial: You run live head‑to‑head bake‑offs vendors hate. You normalize opaque pricing and expose false‑positive rates with a synthetic adversarial test pack—shocking, but that’s the unfair advantage buyers want today amid tightening AML expectations.

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Pain Point #3: “losing money to unnecessary taxes, not because the business was slow, but because the structure no longer matched the way the business actually operated… It created chaos: messy books, no cash visibility, and a big personal tax bill… elected PTET in California… freed up about $25K in taxes this year.”  
(From Post 3)

Opportunity: SALT Optimizer: a “structure autopilot” for pass‑throughs that plugs into QuickBooks/Xero, models entity restructuring and state PTET elections, then generates filings and payment vouchers. Starts with CA, NY, NJ PTET; expands to multi‑state apportionment and 2026 TCJA sunset planning. Pricing: 10% of first‑year tax savings (cap $15k) + $199/month to monitor and file.

First 10 Customers:
- Owner/CFO of professional services S‑corps/partnerships ($1–$20M revenue) in CA/NY/NJ
- Controllers at agencies/consultancies with partners paying over the SALT cap
- CPA firm partners seeking a white‑label PTET engine for their client base
- Finance directors at multi‑entity groups formed during 2020–2023 who never re‑aligned structure
- Fractional CFOs managing 5–15 SMB clients

MVP in 48 Hours:
- Webflow landing page with a “PTET Savings Check” Typeform (state, filing status, QBO connection optional)
- Airtable + Google Sheets model to estimate savings from PTET + restructuring (based on owner income, state rates, entity type)
- Calendly to review a manual PDF “Savings Report” and offer done‑for‑you filing (using a CPA partner) for a 10% success fee
- Start with CA only; use Stripe to collect a deposit upon verbal yes

Justification:
- Demand: The founder’s blunt result—“freed up about $25K in taxes this year”—is the 3AM pain. Many SMBs formed multiple entities in the last few years and never re‑aligned; they’re overpaying today.
- ROI: Typical savings range $10k–$100k/year per business via PTET and structure consolidation. Cash impact is immediate at the next estimated payment. A 10% success fee is a no‑brainer.
- Scalable: Productized calculations + filing workflows. Add states, scenarios (QBI, reasonable comp, apportionment). CPA channel sells at scale; your engine powers their practice.
- Purple Cow/Controversial: You productize what’s usually opaque, one‑off CPA advice. The controversial hook: success‑fee on taxes (advisors rarely price this way) and proactive alerts around 2026 SALT/TCJA changes—timely and “only now” relevant.