The vision: why scalable, discreet, targeted, and where it matters

More scalable

What asking a friend already does, one hop further

Even a Superconnector can only connect people they personally know, and reposting into a group chat is highly ineffective, under 4% of matches actually come from a repost. Together this makes for poor throughput of real information. TrustWeb is built so a question can travel one hop further, through someone the asker already trusts, with that person's own consent to relay it, given live or in advance. Today a question reaches your direct connections; the demo shows the next hop.

We wouldn't fix up our apartment to make it an Airbnb. But if a friend of a friend needs a spot, we have one. That offer only becomes worth making at all once "friend of a friend" is something the infrastructure can actually reach.

More discreet

Nobody sees your ask unless it was meant for them

Two senses, on purpose. Discreet: no public marketplace, nothing broadcast, nobody sees a request unless it was meant for them. And discrete: trust itself isn't a continuous score or star rating, it's three categories, close friend, friend, acquaintance, that decide who can even ask about a given note.

Asking who a good pediatrician is, or who to trust with a housesitting job, a pet, or childcare, without it ever becoming a public post anyone can see. A decline looks exactly like no match, so even a "no" gives nothing away.

More targeted

Reaches the few people who might actually know

Acquaintances are by far the biggest source of new opportunities, but making the mental connection of who would be a good fit depends on recall from memory, with little follow-through, because no one is paid to do it. A question sent through TrustWeb travels through the rings of people you actually trust, according to what you've entrusted to whom, and the answer comes back showing how it was found.

"Who in my circle has set up a small association in Austria, and would talk to me for twenty minutes?" Not worth a message to a three-hundred-person group chat. Worth a question that quietly reaches the four people who might actually know.

Only locally relevant

Time-boxed, place-boxed information a platform can't hold

Leftover food is the clearest case: it needs to reach someone nearby, right now, or it's worthless. No public platform is built for something this narrow and this perishable, but a question that reaches your actual neighbours, in minutes, is exactly the right shape for it.

"Cooked for eight people, four vegetarian portions left, pickup until 8pm."

Trust is the main issue

Where the decision is entirely about who, not what

Care work, pet care, house-sitting, childcare. The service itself is often interchangeable; what actually matters is whether you trust the specific person doing it. These are exactly the requests where a stranger marketplace is the wrong tool no matter how good its reviews are.

Not publicly possible

Asks that would cause a problem if broadcast

Asking who has room to sublet while you're between leases, without your current landlord or roommates finding out you're planning to move, is a question that simply cannot go on a public board.

Only certain people should see it

An ask that's fine for some rings and wrong for others

A role you'd rather fill through someone who comes recommended than through a public listing, where you want it seen only by people close enough to vouch for a candidate, not by anyone with the link.

If lending it out publicly doesn't pay off

Below the threshold where a listing is worth the effort

Tools, bikes, cargo bikes. The overhead of listing something publicly, screening strangers, arranging a public handoff, only pays off for higher-value items. For everything below that line, a trust network is the only channel that's actually worth the effort of offering it at all.

Something that's currently not worth posting

Below the bar for a public offer, above the bar for a friend

We wouldn't fix up our apartment to make it an Airbnb. But if a friend of a friend needs a spot, we have one. The effort of a public listing was never going to be worth it, and the offer would otherwise never have been made at all.

When honesty about flaws matters most

The marginal value of a truthful defect goes up

For something like a car or a piece of tech, what you actually need to know is the flaws a seller has every incentive to hide. Between people who trust each other, and where reputation actually travels, honesty about a defect costs less to give and is worth more to receive.

Fair pricing

When a market price would exploit the relationship, not reflect it

Someone's actual skill, like handicraft work, is often worth more between people who trust each other than a market rate would suggest, and less exploitative than a stranger transaction where neither side can verify the other's fairness.