How We Score Opportunities
Every brief in IdeaLens gets an intensity score from 1 to 10. This is not an editorial opinion or an AI guess — it is a weighted composite of three measurable dimensions extracted from the source signals. Here is exactly how it works.
Signal Sources
IdeaLens monitors 261+ Indian institutional sources daily. The pipeline prioritises sources that publish primary signals — not commentary or analysis of signals that already exist elsewhere.
Priority source types, in order of signal strength:
Opportunity Extraction
Not every signal is an opportunity. The extraction model filters for signals that meet all three of the following conditions simultaneously:
The signal implies that something is now needed, newly permissible, newly funded, or newly mandated — and that gap is not yet being met at scale.
There is an identifiable group of people or businesses who will pay to solve the problem created or revealed by the signal.
At least one viable monetisation path exists (SaaS, service, marketplace, physical product, compliance tool, etc.) with a plausible unit economics structure.
The 1–10 Intensity Score
The score is a deterministic formula — no editorial judgement, no AI guesswork. Three measurable dimensions are computed from the source data and combined into a single figure out of 10.
Articles are deduplicated at extraction — so coverage_count reflects genuinely distinct outlets and datasets, not repeated mentions of the same piece. Scored on a log-base-2 scale so each doubling of sources adds one point. 1 source = 1 pt, 2 = 2 pts, 4 = 3 pts, 8 = 4 pts, 16+ = 5 pts (cap). Diminishing returns are intentional: the 9th source adds less information than the 2nd.
Opportunity windows close. A signal covered today scores 3 pts; one from last week scores 2 pts; two weeks ago 1.5 pts; a month ago 1 pt; two months ago 0.7 pts; older 0.5 pts. The decay is deliberate — a brief that was highly relevant three months ago should not compete with one that broke this morning. Exception: briefs with 5+ deduplicated sources are considered evergreen and receive a recency floor of 1.5 pts regardless of age, so persistent structural opportunities stay visible.
Each brief is assigned an accessibility score (1–10) during generation, reflecting how clearly the opportunity is framed for a non-specialist founder. A score of 10 means anyone can understand the problem, customer, and path to revenue without domain expertise. A score of 1 means the brief requires deep industry knowledge to parse. This translates to 0–2 intensity points and acts as a tiebreaker between briefs with similar coverage and recency.
¹ Evergreen floor applied — recency cannot drop below 1.5 pts for briefs with 5+ deduplicated sources.
Score Interpretation Guide
What to do at each score band.
Strong market pull, clear catalytic event, executable with available resources. First-mover window is open. These briefs warrant immediate validation steps.
Validated opportunity with minor uncertainty in one scoring dimension. Suitable for active research and early validation conversations.
Real signal but timing, market size, or execution feasibility needs further validation. Bookmark and revisit as the signal develops.
Nascent signal — not yet actionable but worth monitoring. May develop into a stronger opportunity as more institutional sources pick it up.
Coverage Intensity
Separate from the 1–10 score, coverage intensity tracks how many independent sources have reported the same underlying signal. Higher coverage means more cross-validation — multiple independent observers surfacing the same gap.
Early deduplicated signal. Treat as a hypothesis worth monitoring — not yet cross-validated.
Multiple independent outlets confirm the signal. Meaningful cross-source validation.
Broadly covered across distinct sources. Market gap is clearly established. Evergreen-eligible.
Exceptional cross-source coverage for a deduplicated dataset. High confidence in signal strength.
Maximum coverage score (5 pts). Rare — indicates a structural market shift with consensus across the landscape.
Every score is traceable
No score is a black box. Every brief shows its source type, coverage count, signal tier, and the date the signal first appeared. You have everything you need to make your own judgement call — the score is a starting point, not a conclusion.
If a brief scores 7.2 and you think the regulatory moat is stronger than the model assessed, act on it. The score is designed to surface the right opportunities for your attention — what you do with that attention is your call.
5,094+ briefs scored · Updated every morning · India