opc-niche-positioning

Niche Positioning

Goal

Help users find a more suitable niche entry point from a broad market for a one-person company. The entry point is discovered through the "three-ring convergence" framework:New leverage / Meta-leverage + New opportunities brought by boundary shifts + The founder's unique resources and advantages. The place where the three rings overlap is the optimal niche.

After discovering the three-ring intersection, you also need to use theopportunity scoring model(six dimensions) for further screening to confirm it is worth truly committing to.

Analytical framework: three-ring convergence

Ring 1: New leverage and meta-leverage

New leverage (permissionless leverage)

The core characteristics of new leverage:It requires no one's approval，The marginal cost of replication approaches zero. It is divided into two categories:

Code leverage: build once, serve infinitely. Software, tools, and automated processes cost almost nothing to serve the 1,000,000th user and the 1,000,001st user.
Media leverage: say it once, echo infinitely. Articles, videos, and podcasts add no cost when one more person views them after they are written. They keep working for you while you sleep.

In niche analysis, ask: In this track, can code or media content be used as the primary form of delivery instead of relying on one-to-one human services? If so, the leverage density is very high.

Meta-leverage (AI as the leverage that creates leverage)

Meta-leverage is the third wave of automation brought by AI—no longer merely replacing physical labor (the first wave) or repetitive rule-based mental labor (the second wave), butreplacing creative mental labor: writing, design, analysis, and planning.

The qualitative tipping point of meta-leverage: when a complete business loop can achieve 100% automation, it shifts from a "toolchain" into anautonomous subjectwith its own "heartbeat"—able to automatically collect, create, publish, test, and iterate without human supervision. At this point the founder shifts from driver to dispatcher, intervening only when an "exceptional state" occurs.

In niche analysis, ask：

Which workflows in this track used to require a team but can now be done by one person with the help of AI?
Is there a complete business loop that can operate automatically (not just speed up a certain step)?
Because large companies have people, processes, and historical baggage, they are actually less flexible than one-person companies in using AI tools—is there a speed gap here that can be exploited?

Ring 2: Boundary shifts

"The times create heroes"—the real opportunities in business come from new business paths created by shifting boundaries, not just from intelligence and the amount of resources.

When a boundary shifts, a "new tributary" appears, making the previously optimal business logic no longer optimal; at the same time, large companies on the original business path oftencan see it but cannot move(value network conflict, the mechanism described in The Innovator's Dilemma). This is the core logic of using the small to defeat the large.

Main types of boundary shifts

Technological boundary shifts(the most impactful, and also the most active at present)

Technology makes what was originally impossible possible. The internet, the mobile internet, and cloud computing have turned the infrastructure costs of large enterprises into on-demand expenses that individuals can afford. The most important shift in technological boundaries today is AI: it is turning many tasks that require simple thinking into tasks that can be executed automatically.

Key question: What has AI or other new technologies made possible in this industry? Can one person now do what used to require a team of ten? Can an individual now use infrastructure that used to be affordable only to large enterprises?

Shifts in information dissemination paths

From the TV advertising era → portals → blogs → Weibo → WeChat/official accounts → Douyin/Xiaohongshu... Each migration of dissemination paths creates a window period: traffic is already there, but the commercialization logic has not caught up yet, and competition is not yet intense.

Key question: On which platforms is the target user group most active now? Do these platforms have a window where "traffic has arrived but commercialization is not yet saturated"? Has anyone already built trust there but not yet truly made a good product?

Shifts in policy and regulatory boundaries

Subsidy policies, industry bans, and adjustments to platform rules can all make an industry disappear overnight or create a new industry. A one-person business does not need to bet on policy changes, but it needs toobserve: Is there any policy in the current industry that is promoting a certain segmented direction, or suppressing the expansion of certain large companies?

Core judgment: Can large companies pursue it?

Whenever a boundary shift is discovered, ask: Why have the beneficiaries on the original business path not pursued / will not pursue / are unwilling to pursue this new direction?

If large companies' existing customers do not want them to transform (value network conflict)
If the early-stage profits of the new path are too low for large companies to care about
If the new path requires completely rebuilding processes, large companies' sunk costs are too high

The above situations are where the space for using the small to challenge the large lies.

Ring 3: Unique resources and advantages

What resources, experience, relationships, or accumulation does the founder have that others cannot easily replicate?

Read directly from opc-doc/outputs/01-resource-audit/ , without recollecting.

Use the conclusions of the resource inventory as an "overlay"—first have the analysis conclusions of Ring 1 and Ring 2, then overlay them to see where they match.

Opportunity scoring model (six dimensions)

The three-ring intersection can only discover opportunities; it cannot directly determine investment. After finding a candidate niche, continue screening with six dimensions:

Dimension	Assessment content
Pain point intensity	How painful is this problem for the target users? Is it an inconvenience they can endure, or does it repeatedly affect their core needs?
Leverage density	In this niche, how many permissionless levers can be stacked? Code, media, AI automation—how many can be used simultaneously?
Window dividend	How wide is the time window for this opportunity? Is entering now just in time for the early stage of the boundary shift? Will it be saturated in a few more years?
Resource fit	How much of the founder's existing resources (experience, relationships, channels, assets) can be directly converted into advantages in this niche?
Delivery standardization level	Can a reusable delivery process be formed, rather than customizing from scratch every time? The more standardized it is, the more it can be amplified with leverage.
Cash Flow Potential	How quickly can this direction generate actual revenue without relying on substantial upfront capital?

Each candidate niche is briefly evaluated across these six dimensions, and high scores are prioritized for advancement.

Core Principles

By default, read and write under the current working directory opc-doc/
In teaching mode, first explain "new leverage/meta-leverage," "boundary shifts," "three-ring convergence," and "opportunity scoring"
By default, ask only one question at a time; if several questions are all very light and closely related to each other, they can be combined into 2 to 3
Do not choose a market directly for the user; instead generate 3 candidate niches and attach 4. 我有自己的方案
Write the formal results only after the user confirms
Do not directly give recommendation conclusions; only do solution analysis
At this stage, only do "who they are, what pain they have, why there is an opening"; do not do anything at the execution level

Boundaries of This Stage

What This Step Does

Analyze where new leverage and meta-leverage can be applied (Ring 1)
Identify boundary shifts happening in the industry, especially directions that large companies cannot catch up with (Ring 2)
Layer in the founder's unique resources to find the three-ring overlap area (Ring 3)
Use the opportunity scoring model to conduct a six-dimensional evaluation of candidate niches
Confirm the target niche and form a positioning statement

What This Step Does Not Do (The Following Belongs to Later Stages; Do Not Enter Them Early)

❌ Do not do content strategy or content format planning (belongs to the MVP design stage)
❌ Do not do copywriting, script design, or post skeletons (belongs to the asset accumulation stage)
❌ Do not do platform operation plans or channel selection (belongs to the conversion loop stage)
❌ Do not do product pricing (belongs to the business model design stage)
❌ Do not do customer acquisition paths or specific conversion steps (belongs to the conversion loop stage)

Boundary Crossing Detection: If execution topics such as "what content to post," "how to write copy," "which format to use," or "how to post on Xiaohongshu" appear in the conversation, immediately say:

"This direction is very valuable, but it belongs to the scope of the later [MVP design / conversion loop] stage. Let's first confirm the niche positioning; only then will the later execution have an accurate target." Then bring the topic back to the current stage.

What This Step Must Complete

Ring 1: Analysis of available directions for new leverage / meta-leverage
Ring 2: Identification of industry boundary shifts (technology, distribution paths, policy)
Ring 3: Resource layering and identification of the three-ring overlap area
Candidate niche generation (including the six dimensions of opportunity scoring)
Primary niche confirmation
Positioning statement

Execution Steps

Explain the goal of this step. In teaching mode, first explain the meaning of the three rings, the difference between new leverage and meta-leverage, and what a boundary shift is.
First analyze Ring 2 (boundary shifts)—Start from industry changes, not from user needs:
- What obvious changes have recently happened in your industry? (For example, large companies contracting, AI tools becoming widespread, a certain type of customer behavior shifting, changes in the platform traffic landscape)
- Is there anything that could not be done before but can be done now? (Technology boundary movement)
- Is there a certain type of customer that previously could only be served by large companies but can now be served by individuals? Why?
- Why haven't large companies on the existing business path pursued this direction? (Where is the value network conflict?)
Then analyze Loop 1 (new leverage / meta-leverage)—Focus on the permissionless leverage available in this industry:
- Code/tools: Can software or automated processes replace repetitive human labor?
- Media: Can knowledge or experience be turned into content assets that can be reused repeatedly?
- Meta-leverage (AI): In this industry, is there a complete business process that can be handed over to AI to run autonomously, with intervention only when exceptions occur?
Read Loop 3: from opc-doc/outputs/01-resource-audit/ obtain the resource inventory conclusion. Overlay the findings of Loop 1 + Loop 2, and find the three-loop overlap area.
After each round of answers, give brief feedback and mark which loop was activated.

Generate 3 candidate niches, and present each niche in the following format:

候选利基 X：[简短名称]
目标用户：谁，处于什么处境
核心痛点：什么问题，有多痛
激活的环：✅/❌ 环1（新/元杠杆）| ✅/❌ 环2（边界变动）| ✅/❌ 环3（资源匹配）
时间窗口：为什么现在是合适的时机，窗口还有多宽
大公司为什么不来：价值网络冲突 / 体量太小 / 速度太慢
机会评分（六维，每项 1-5 分）：
  痛点强度 X | 杠杆密度 X | 窗口红利 X | 资源匹配 X | 交付标准化 X | 现金流潜力 X
总分：XX/30
风险点：

Prioritize directions where all three loops are activated and the total score is highest; next, those where two loops are activated; directions where only Loop 3 is activated serve as a fallback option and are not the main recommendation.

By default, add 4. 我有自己的方案
Let the user choose, combine, modify, or directly propose their own version
After the user confirms, generate a formal positioning statement and save it to disk

Output

The dialogue layer must include:

Explanation of this step
Summary of industry boundary changes + leverage availability analysis
3 candidate niches + opportunity scores + 4. 我有自己的方案
Each candidate's advantages, risks, and why large companies are not pursuing it
Ask the user to confirm or modify

Output constraints：

The summary only describes "who, what pain, why there is an opening, and why now," and does not extend to "how to create content" or "how to acquire customers"
Candidate niches do not include specific copy examples, content templates, or operational steps
If the user has already provided enough information, this round only gives candidates for the user to choose, without additional execution suggestions

What this step needs to explain (teaching mode)

New leverage: leverage that can be used without anyone's approval—code (the cost stays the same no matter how many more people are served) and media (once content is made well, it spreads infinitely)
Meta-leverage: AI is the leverage of leverage; it is not just about making a certain step faster, but about enabling the entire business loop to run automatically
Boundary change: changes in technology, distribution paths, or policy open up a new tributary in the original market, making the old optimal solution no longer optimal
Three loops in one: find where the three overlap; the odds of success are highest there; relying only on resource matching gives the weakest competitive advantage

Input

Priority reading:

opc-doc/outputs/01-resource-audit/inventory.md(resource inventory conclusion)
opc-doc/inputs/market-notes.md(if any)
opc-doc/inputs/raw-ideas.md(if any)

If the preceding resource inventory is missing, first check whether the current conversation already has enough founder resource information.

If enough, you can continue
If not enough, first suggest calling opc-resource-audit

Save-to-disk checkpoint (the stage must be completed and cannot be skipped)

After the user explicitly confirms the target niche and positioning statement,immediatelyuse the Write tool to create the following file. Describing the conclusion in the conversation does not count as saving to disk.

Write to file:

opc-doc/outputs/02-niche-positioning/three-ring-analysis.md(Three-circle analysis conclusions: list of available levers, list of industry boundary changes, identification of overlaps with resources)
opc-doc/outputs/02-niche-positioning/candidates.md(3 candidate niches and six-dimension details of opportunity scoring)
opc-doc/outputs/02-niche-positioning/target-segment.json(Confirmed target segment:{"segment": "...", "core_pain": "...", "timing": "...", "rings_activated": ["leverage", "boundary_shift", "resource_match"], "opportunity_score": {"pain": 0, "leverage": 0, "window": 0, "resource_fit": 0, "standardization": 0, "cashflow": 0, "total": 0}, "why_viable": "...", "why_big_players_wont": "..."}）
opc-doc/outputs/02-niche-positioning/positioning-statement.md(Positioning statement: for whom, solving what, why you, why now)

Update the status file:

opc-doc/state/current-stage.json(Write:{"stage": "02-niche-positioning", "status": "completed", "next_stage": "03-value-proposition", "summary": "一句话定位核心"}）
opc-doc/state/decisions.json(Append the confirmed niche selection)

After the write to disk is complete, inform the user in the conversation:

"✅ The niche positioning conclusion has been saved. Next time, the conversation can continue from the value proposition."

Only after the write to disk is complete may you prompt to proceed to opc-value-proposition。

Completion criteria

Completed the three-circle analysis (Circle 1 + Circle 2 + Circle 3 overlap)
Generated 3 candidate niches, including six-dimension opportunity scoring
The user has confirmed the primary niche
Generated the positioning statement

Stop when complete: When the positioning statement has been generated and the user has confirmed it, this stage's task is finished. Do not extend into content strategy or execution planning; directly prompt the user to proceed to the value proposition stage.

When to call other skills

Only after the user confirms the target segment, proceed to opc-value-proposition。

Exception handling

If the market is very large, force continued narrowing; do not allow staying at a broad market
If the user cannot provide an answer, first generate reasonable candidates based on industry background for them to judge, and do not put all the pressure on the user
If no overlap can be found among the three circles, state it truthfully and discuss whether it is necessary to expand the industry scope or adjust the direction of resources