User Research · June 2025
The Road to thinked-in
Seven conversations across three pivots — from tender automation to network intelligence.
Click theListenbuttons to hear the interviews
Tender Identification & Qualification
We started by helping businesses identify and qualify tender opportunities, but interviews revealed that finding opportunities was a broader problem than tenders alone.
“Finding the right tenders is mostly manual — we're checking multiple portals, filtering by hand, and half the time we've already missed the deadline by the time we find it.”
“The worst part of my job is spending two days writing a bid and then realising we never had a real chance. Better qualification upfront would save everyone's time.”
“From a brand perspective, we need to be selective. Winning the wrong tender can damage relationships if you're stretched too thin to deliver.”
“Private sector opportunities don't come through a portal. You hear about them through relationships — or you miss them entirely.”
“There are thousands of public sector contracts published every week. Even with Find a Tender, the signal-to-noise ratio is terrible. You need intelligence, not just aggregation.”
Qualification → Lead Discovery
Early conversations showed that qualification wasn't the bottleneck — discovering the right opportunities was. Users didn't just need better tender analysis. They needed a way to find opportunities they didn't know existed.
B2C Lead Discovery
Small business owners told us they spend more time searching for customers than serving them. Customer interviews revealed that opportunity discovery extends beyond procurement into every industry.
“You're solving tenders, but the real problem is bigger. Every small business owner is trying to find customers. What if AI could surface buying intent wherever it naturally appears?”
“I'd scroll through local Facebook groups when I was starting out. People post when they're moving, when they've had a big event. You can see the demand if you know where to look.”
Lead Discovery → Network Intelligence
As we explored lead generation, a recurring theme emerged: the highest-converting opportunities come from trusted relationships. The most valuable opportunities weren't hidden on the internet — they were hidden inside existing networks.
Chat with your Network
The most valuable opportunities weren't hidden on the internet — they were hidden inside existing networks.
“The internet has become searchable. Professional networks haven't.”
“Everyone has a network worth millions in collective expertise, but no way to query it.”
“LinkedIn stores your connections. We help you think with them.”
“What if your entire professional network became searchable, conversational, and instantly accessible?”
“Your network already knows the answer. We're building the interface to ask.”
“The future isn't AI replacing relationships — it's AI making relationships computable.”
The Product
thinked-in
Your network, made conversational.