<p>My product is a Windows desktop software that finds archaeological features hidden in LiDAR terrain data. You draw an area on a map; in a few minutes, the tool downloads the elevation model, analyses the micro-relief and returns a ranked list of likely man-made features: barrows, castle mottes, enclosures, hillforts, hollow ways, Roman roads, fossil field systems, charcoal platforms. Each one comes with its measurements, cross-sections, verification views and coordinates, and is cross-checked against databases of already known sites. A PDF report and GIS exports (GeoPackage, Shapefile, GeoJSON) are generated automatically.</p><p>Unlike black-box AI tools, my product uses explicit, documented geometric rules, which archaeologists can check and cite. Measured on 177 protected monuments over 63.9 km² of French LiDAR HD, without giving the software their positions: 75% of barrows and 70% of castle mottes detected.</p><p>I started it in 2026 as a solo founder, after seeing that the new national LiDAR datasets were far too large for archaeologists to review by eye. France is natively covered (IGN LiDAR HD, automatic download); Italy has its own edition (regional LiDAR, 1954 aerial photos, historical cadastres, 13,500 known sites); other countries work with the user's own LiDAR files.</p><p><b>Key highlights:</b></p><ul> <li>Revenue: €2,500 from 5 licences sold since launch (August 2026)</li> <li>Profit: ≈ €2,400 (running costs ≈ €100/year: domain + business email)</li> <li>Pricing: perpetual licence per seat, €500 (Standard) or €1,200 (Full), optional 20%/year maintenance</li> <li>Churn / LTV / CAC: too early to measure (first customers in 2026; acquisition by direct email only, CAC ≈ €0 in cash)</li> <li>Margin: ~96% (software licence, no paid infrastructure)-</li> <li>Product: complete and shipping (installer, demo edition, online demo, website in 11 languages).</li> </ul> <p><b>Team</b></p><p>Solo founder. Product design, development, website, sales outreach, and customer support. No employees, no contractors, no ongoing commitments transferred to the buyer.</p><p><b>Tech Stack</b></p><ul> <li>Python (NumPy, SciPy, rasterio, pyproj): analysis engine, terrain processing, detection rules, PDF reports, GIS exports</li> <li>FastAPI: local server inside the desktop app</li> <li>JavaScript, HTML/CSS, Leaflet: user interface and map</li> <li>PyInstaller + Inno Setup: Windows installer, built automatically with GitHub Actions (full and demo editions)</li> <li>Cloudflare Pages: website and online demo; Cloudflare R2: installer downloads</li> <li>Data sources: IGN Géoplateforme (France), Italian regional LiDAR services and TINITALY, OpenStreetMap / Wikidata for known sites.</li> </ul> <p>Automated test suite (several hundred tests). No paid third-party services or subscriptions required.</p><p><b>Marketing and growssth</b></p><p>Growth so far has been direct outreach only, no advertising:</p><ul> <li>August 2026: personalised emails to ~70 French archaeology services, firms and researchers, followed by a second wave in October with the demo.</li> <li>October 2026: ~200 personalised emails in 9 languages to heritage services, archaeology companies and universities in 14 countries (Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, US, Poland, etc.).</li> <li>Results: 5 sales, several qualified conversations, including a French mining-archaeology firm preparing a test, and an Italian LiDAR research team led by a leading landscape archaeologist.</li> <li>Built-in conversion tools: a free online demo and a downloadable demo edition with locked features that invite users to upgrade.</li> </ul> <p>Untapped channels: SEO (the website is already in 11 languages), conferences, archaeology training courses, partnerships with GIS vendors, paid search.</p><p><b>Revenue and profitsss</b></p><ul> <li>Revenue to date: €2,500 from 5 licences (Standard, €500 each), since launch in August 2026</li> <li>Pricing: perpetual licence per seat: Standard €500, Full €1,200; optional yearly maintenance at 20% of the licence price; site licence for multi-office organisations from €4,000</li> <li>Running costs: ≈ €100/year (domain ≈ €15/year, business email ≈ €85/year). Hosting (Cloudflare Pages + R2) and code hosting (GitHub) are free tiers</li> <li>Profit to date: ≈ €2,400</li> <li>MRR / ARR: no recurring revenue yet; maintenance contracts are the natural next step</li> </ul> <p>Very early stage: the numbers show market validation (people pay €500 for it), not yet a stable revenue stream.</p><p><b>Return on investment</b></p><p>At an asking price of €6,500, the buyer breaks even with 13 Standard licences, or about 5 Full licences, or 2 site licences. For comparison, 5 licences were sold in roughly two months with no advertising and only part-time effort. Fastest paths to payback: follow up the 270+ prospects already contacted (several replied positively), raise prices after the launch period as planned (Standard €750, Full €1,800), and sell yearly maintenance. A buyer with an existing customer base in archaeology, forestry or GIS can realistically recover the price within 6 to 12 months.</p><p><b>Startup assets</b></p><ul> <li>Full source code (Python + JavaScript), with automated tests and documentation</li> <li>Windows installers (full and demo editions), automated build pipeline</li> <li>Domain and the website in 11 languages, including a live online demo</li> <li>Brand</li> <li>5 existing customers (perpetual licences already delivered; a maintenance offer can be proposed to them)</li> <li>Prospect list: ~270 contacted organisations across 15 countries (heritage services, archaeology firms, universities), with conversation history</li> <li>Bundled data: 13,500 known Italian archaeological sites, French protected monuments, country borders, regional typologies for 18 countries</li> <li>Handover support: 4 weeks of help after the sale</li> </ul> <p><b>Risks</b></p><ul> <li>Niche market: archaeology and heritage buyers are few and slow (public procurement). Mitigation: target companies and research labs first, and adjacent markets (forestry, environmental impact studies, GIS).</li> <li>Early stage: limited revenue history. Mitigation: low asking price, low running costs, and handover support from the founder.</li> </ul> <p><b>Summary</b></p><p>My tool is a finished, working product in a niche with no direct low-cost competitor: archaeologists today review LiDAR by eye or with complex GIS workflows. It already has paying customers, a measured detection rate, a multilingual website and demo, an Italian edition, and a warm prospect list in 15 countries. Running costs are almost zero. A buyer with sales time, or an existing customer base in archaeology or GIS, can turn the groundwork already done into recurring revenue quickly.</p><p>✅ $2,900 TTM revenue</p><p>✅ 5 customers</p><p>✅ Business model: Licensing</p><p>✅ Built with JavaScript, Python, HTML</p>