{"id":2116,"slug":"two-axis-vertical-tier-model","title":"Two-axis tier model — commercial intensity × local saturation","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["vertical-competitive-tiers"],"reference_body":"**Core insight:** A plumber and a SaaS company are both \"hard\" for OPPOSITE reasons; a one-number difficulty score destroys that information.\n\n**The two axes:**\n\n- **Axis A — Commercial intensity.** Proxy: CPC tier + organic KD. Captures Legal / Insurance / SaaS — high willingness to pay, deep-pocketed competitors, high keyword authority barrier.\n- **Axis B — Local saturation.** Proxy: typical 3-pack review bar + pack crowding. Captures trades / restaurants / dentists — geographically bounded competition, high review bar.\n\n**Output examples:**\n\n- Legal = \"High commercial / Low-moderate local.\"\n- Plumber = \"Moderate-high commercial / High local.\"\n- Accountant = \"Low commercial / Low local = OPEN.\"\n- SaaS = \"High commercial / N/A local.\"\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** This is the keystone design recommendation of the vertical brief. The widget MUST emit TWO axis scores, not collapse them into one number. Otherwise the same \"Hard\" output covers a SaaS founder who needs Tier 3 differentiation work and a plumber who needs Tier 2 review velocity — totally different recommendations.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-smb-widget-vertical-difficulty-june-2026","title":"Research brief: SMB widget vertical difficulty — two-axis tiering by industry (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"rule-output-two-axis-tier-not-one-number","title":"Rule — Output two-axis tier (commercial × local), never collapse to one number","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:04.810Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:04.810Z"}