Copy a business that works

Find a proven model, identify an overlooked context, and make it genuinely useful there.

Copying well is not tracing the visible product. It means understanding the mechanism that creates value, then testing whether that mechanism survives in a different market, geography, audience, or workflow.

Name the mechanism

Describe the business in one sentence without using its brand name. Focus on who pays, what recurring problem is resolved, and why the delivery model works.

Choose an overlooked context

Look for a context where the existing answer does not quite fit:

• A region the incumbent cannot serve well.
• A profession with a meaningfully different workflow.
• A smaller customer whose economics require simpler delivery.
• A new capability that removes an old cost.

Copy the engine, not the surface

Avoid copying visual details or feature lists before you understand the economic and behavioral engine. Build the smallest version that proves someone in the new context receives the same essential value.

Talk to five specific people before polishing it. Write down what must change and what must remain true for the model to work.