Research services
One decision. A source-backed research memo.
Shift Signal turns fragmented AI, technology, and platform-economy evidence into a focused decision memo for founders and business operators.
The offer
Research designed to end in a decision.
A custom, source-backed decision memo on competitors, customer pain, market shifts, positioning opportunities, and recommended actions.
Start with the free AI Cost Lab to separate assumptions from measured costs. A custom research engagement is scoped separately; the calculator is not a client result or a substitute for research.
This is not a generic market report. The engagement begins with one decision: which audience to target, which offer to launch, why customers are leaving a competitor, or where a new product is most likely to break.
What is included
A bounded scope with useful evidence.
- A concise executive decision memo with prioritized findings
- Competitor and market map grounded in current public evidence
- Customer-friction analysis using reviews, forums, and complaint patterns
- Assumptions, counterarguments, and risks that could break the recommendation
- A practical 30-day action plan and source appendix
- A 45-minute readout call for questions and next-step decisions
The proposal defines the decision, market, competitors, evidence window, and deliverables before work begins. Public-source research does not establish market size, customer demand, or causation on its own. Interviews, paid data, implementation, and ongoing monitoring are not included unless separately agreed.
AI decision brief · available within the sprint
Build, buy, or wait?
Bring one AI adoption decision. We can scope the sprint around a comparison of two options, their fully loaded cost assumptions, evidence quality, switching risks, and a small validation test with explicit stop criteria.
No invented benchmark or savings claim. Where public evidence cannot settle the question, the memo identifies what must be measured before spending more. This is a scoped research service, not an automated investment recommendation.
Illustrative memo outline · not a client result
See how a decision becomes a research brief.
Example question: should a local delivery operator focus its pilot on bakeries or florists?
- Evidence to compare
- Current competitor offers, published handling requirements, and relevant customer complaints—with dates, links, and limits on what each source can establish.
- Decision memo
- A comparison of the two options, the strongest counterargument, missing evidence, and a recommendation only where the evidence supports one.
- Next step
- A bounded validation plan: what to test, what to measure, and what result would change the decision.
This is an example of the format, not completed research, a case study, or a claim about either market.
Best fit
Built for companies making a platform-economy bet.
- Software, insurance, tax, finance, vehicle, and benefits products serving independent workers
- Delivery and logistics operators evaluating a market, partner, or positioning move
- Founders preparing a launch, pricing change, sales narrative, or investor decision
Shift Signal does not sell legal, tax, investment, or individualized financial advice.
Commercial options
Need distribution instead of private research?
Review the separate, clearly disclosed founding-partner inventory. Sponsorship never buys favorable editorial conclusions.
View founding-partner options →