💬 Staying relevant when Big Tech adds visual mapping¶
The ask
Google, Microsoft and OpenAI will ship "AI visual maps" as a free, built-in feature.
We believe three moves together make our moat. Are we missing anything?
Context¶
- 🗺️ NotebookLM, Miro and Canva already make mind maps.
- 🪶 Today they're shallow: single-layer trees that point to sources.
- 💸 Making them deeper is cheap for Big Tech.
- 💪 Our edge today: depth and an open format. Next: being inside the browser, Claude and ChatGPT.
Our moat: all three together¶
These aren't alternatives to choose between. We believe the moat comes from A, B and C together.
| Move | Bet | Risk | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Become the format. Open standard and free viewers, so any map opens in Visualli. |
Standards outlast features. Big Tech might adopt it. | Slow to spread. Gives away part of the moat. |
| B | Go deep, not wide. Own personal visual learning: vault, comfort modes, spaced review. |
Big Tech builds for the average user, not visual learners. | Niche may be too small. Hard to say in one line. |
| C | Be the layer inside them. AI-chat plug-ins, browser extensions, connectors (Notion, Google Docs…). |
Distribution through would-be competitors. | Platform dependency. Hosts can copy or cut us off. |
Our current leaning¶
A first, C next, then B.
A: become the format. The open standard and free viewers come first.
C: be the layer inside them. Then plug-ins and extensions put Visualli® maps where people already work.
B: go deep, not wide. Then the personal vault, comfort modes and learning science make people stay.
All along: we add new visual constructs to the standard, so it spreads to more types of content than maps alone.
What we'd love from you¶
- 📣 GTM & Positioning: What one line survives "but NotebookLM does mind maps"? Who cares enough to pay and switch?
- 🛠️ Technology & Product: Is an open standard a real moat at our size? What would make Big Tech adopt it?
- 💶 Fundraising: "What if Google does this?" is often an investor's first question. Which answer convinces the investors you know, and what proof would they want?
Advice received¶
Nothing yet.
Decision¶
Not decided yet.