How to Check Product Health - Article 1

How to research product potential

Product potential can be analyzed with 3 key factors:

• value proposition

• competitive advantage

• business model

For value proposition, try to understand what’s the key feature that provides the most value to users.

For competitive advantage, find the differences in similar products. This can be the novelty of an idea or a cheaper price.

For business model, research how the project is monetized, how do the revenue streams work. If this is not a public information, ask their community about it.

How to research product usage

Product usage can be analyzed with 5 key factors:

• brand demand

• trading volume

• total value locked

• token price

• unique active wallets

To research brand demand, you will need access to SEO tools like Ahrefs. The idea is to research product name as a keyword. High search volume per month indicates a top of the funnel demand.

To research trading volume and price you can use these services:

• https://www.coingecko.com
• https://defipulse.com/ (good for TVL too)
• https://coinmarketcap.com
• https://www.cryptocompare.com

Data on unique active wallets is harder to come by, use these services:

• https://etherscan.io
• https://glassnode.com
• https://dune.com/

How to research product monetization

Product monetization can be broken down into 4 key factors:

• Fees

• Revenue

• Treasury

• Price

To research fees, you should look into the blockchain transactions of the specific project. The charges applied for each transaction, whether in swapping, staking, or any other interaction with the blockchain, are a good indicator of how the project generates fees. Resources like https://etherscan.io provide insights into such transactions and the associated fees.

Revenue is a clear indicator of a project's financial health. This can be explored by understanding the project’s business model and how it earns income. This may be from transaction fees, services, or even yield farming rewards. Comprehensive details can often be found in the project's whitepaper, and aggregators like https://www.coingecko.com and https://defipulse.com often provide snapshots of revenue streams.

Treasury management is crucial in a crypto project's sustainability and growth. The treasury's size and management can be investigated through on-chain data and governance proposals. Services like https://deepdao.io and https://etherscan.io/ can provide a window into a project's treasury.

Finally, price is an important but volatile metric. It should be analyzed in relation to the other factors mentioned to get a comprehensive view of the project's financial health. Crypto price tracking platforms like https://coinmarketcap.comand https://www.coingecko.com/ are great places to get accurate and up-to-date price data.

How to research product roadmap

Examining a crypto project's roadmap can be boiled down to 4 key elements:

• Clarity of Goals

• Milestone Achievements

• Timeline

• Technical Feasibility

To assess the clarity of goals, you need to dive deep into the project's whitepaper and official announcements. A clear, precise roadmap will include specific objectives and development plans. If these are vague or too broad, it could be a warning sign.

The milestone achievements refer to the completed objectives set out in the roadmap. It's essential to verify whether the team has successfully met their milestones. Websites like https://coinmarketcal.com/ and https://coincheckup.com/can be handy in tracking these milestones.

Timeliness is crucial in a roadmap. Projects that consistently meet their deadlines reflect positively on the project's reliability. Again, using platforms like CoinMarketCal will help track whether a project is meeting its deadlines.

Analyzing technical feasibility involves some technical knowledge. It's crucial to ensure that the goals set out in the roadmap are technically possible within the stated timelines. Technical discussions on platforms like https://github.com/ and Bitbucket https://bitbucket.org/ can provide some insights into this aspect