Should I Build It Should I Build It
19 Apr 2025
Email

365 contacts sync to mailbox and other services on Sharepoint lists

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

Your idea of syncing 365 contacts to mailboxes and other services on Sharepoint lists falls into a crowded space, the 'Swamp' category. This means there are existing solutions, but none have truly captured the market's love. With 3 similar products found, and low engagement with these similar products, it indicates a possible lack of product-market fit or strong user demand. Given this context, it's crucial to approach your idea with caution. While the core concept might seem useful, the fact that existing solutions haven't thrived suggests potential challenges in differentiation, user adoption, or monetization. Before investing significant time and resources, a thorough examination of the landscape and a clear plan for standing out are essential.

Recommendations

  1. Begin by thoroughly researching why existing contact syncing solutions for Sharepoint lists haven't achieved widespread success. Identify the pain points users still experience and understand the limitations of current approaches. Look at user reviews, feature comparisons, and pricing models to pinpoint the gaps in the market.
  2. If, after your research, you still believe in your idea, focus on identifying a specific niche or user group that is particularly underserved by existing solutions. This could be a specific industry, company size, or use case. Tailoring your product to their unique needs increases your chances of gaining traction.
  3. Instead of building a standalone product, explore the possibility of creating tools or integrations that enhance existing contact management and syncing services. This could involve building plugins or add-ons for popular platforms like Outlook or Sharepoint. This approach allows you to leverage established user bases and distribution channels.
  4. Consider pivoting to adjacent problems that might be more promising. Are there related challenges in data management, collaboration, or workflow automation that you could address instead? This might involve expanding your focus beyond contact syncing to offer a more comprehensive solution.
  5. Given the challenges in this category, it might be wise to focus your energy on a different startup idea with potentially higher chances of success. Don't be afraid to explore new opportunities and apply your skills to a more promising market.
  6. Given that one similar product 'Syncredible' received positive feedback, investigate what they did well. What was their marketing like? What channels did they use? Is there anything from their approach that you can use to generate some traction?

Questions

  1. What are the specific reasons why current contact syncing solutions for Sharepoint lists haven't achieved widespread adoption, and how can your solution overcome these limitations?
  2. What unique features or capabilities will your solution offer that differentiate it from existing competitors, and how will these features address the unmet needs of a specific target audience?
  3. What is your go-to-market strategy for acquiring users and generating revenue, and how will you ensure sustainable growth in a competitive market?

Your are here

Your idea of syncing 365 contacts to mailboxes and other services on Sharepoint lists falls into a crowded space, the 'Swamp' category. This means there are existing solutions, but none have truly captured the market's love. With 3 similar products found, and low engagement with these similar products, it indicates a possible lack of product-market fit or strong user demand. Given this context, it's crucial to approach your idea with caution. While the core concept might seem useful, the fact that existing solutions haven't thrived suggests potential challenges in differentiation, user adoption, or monetization. Before investing significant time and resources, a thorough examination of the landscape and a clear plan for standing out are essential.

Recommendations

  1. Begin by thoroughly researching why existing contact syncing solutions for Sharepoint lists haven't achieved widespread success. Identify the pain points users still experience and understand the limitations of current approaches. Look at user reviews, feature comparisons, and pricing models to pinpoint the gaps in the market.
  2. If, after your research, you still believe in your idea, focus on identifying a specific niche or user group that is particularly underserved by existing solutions. This could be a specific industry, company size, or use case. Tailoring your product to their unique needs increases your chances of gaining traction.
  3. Instead of building a standalone product, explore the possibility of creating tools or integrations that enhance existing contact management and syncing services. This could involve building plugins or add-ons for popular platforms like Outlook or Sharepoint. This approach allows you to leverage established user bases and distribution channels.
  4. Consider pivoting to adjacent problems that might be more promising. Are there related challenges in data management, collaboration, or workflow automation that you could address instead? This might involve expanding your focus beyond contact syncing to offer a more comprehensive solution.
  5. Given the challenges in this category, it might be wise to focus your energy on a different startup idea with potentially higher chances of success. Don't be afraid to explore new opportunities and apply your skills to a more promising market.
  6. Given that one similar product 'Syncredible' received positive feedback, investigate what they did well. What was their marketing like? What channels did they use? Is there anything from their approach that you can use to generate some traction?

Questions

  1. What are the specific reasons why current contact syncing solutions for Sharepoint lists haven't achieved widespread adoption, and how can your solution overcome these limitations?
  2. What unique features or capabilities will your solution offer that differentiate it from existing competitors, and how will these features address the unmet needs of a specific target audience?
  3. What is your go-to-market strategy for acquiring users and generating revenue, and how will you ensure sustainable growth in a competitive market?

  • Confidence: Medium
    • Number of similar products: 3
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 2
  • Net use signal: 28.0%
    • Positive use signal: 28.0%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

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