Heptabase GTM brain

category

market profile

• text: Knowledge workers increasingly collect notes across PDFs, web pages and video, but need a way to synthesize and connect them.
• text: The market includes visual-first tools and linked-note products with differing tradeoffs in portability, free access and workflow.

personas

• title: Graduate student or academic researcher
  pains:

  • Research is scattered across papers, notes and source highlights
  • Needs to synthesize concepts and trace ideas back to citations
• title: Independent learner or nonfiction writer
  pains:

  • Collects more information than they can connect into an original understanding
  • Needs to move from reading to an organized argument or creative output
• title: Knowledge worker using AI assistants
  pains:

  • AI chat answers can become disconnected from accumulated research
  • Wants assistants to work with an existing knowledge base and sources

icp

• text: Individual learners, students and researchers who study complex subjects and can purchase a personal subscription; conventional company-size firmographics are secondary.
• text: Small research or knowledge teams that benefit from sharing whiteboards and collaborating in real time.
• text: Users working across desktop and mobile with PDFs, video and captured web research.

message pillars

• text: Develop understanding through visual synthesis rather than mere collection.
• text: Break source material into visual cards while preserving citations.
• text: Structure and revisit a growing body of knowledge.
• text: Access knowledge in the AI tools a user already uses.

objections

• objection: Why pay for another note-taking app?
  response: Use the seven-day trial on a real research project and compare whiteboard synthesis against the existing tool.
• objection: Will it fit my existing sources and AI workflow?
  response: Test PDF highlights, web clips and the available assistant integrations with representative material before migrating.
• objection: Can I afford the AI features I need?
  response: Compare included credits and model access by plan before subscribing; heavy use may require a higher tier.

competitors

• name: Obsidian
  why: Linked notes and canvas compete for personal knowledge management.
• name: Scrintal
  why: Visual cards and boards serve similar research and thinking workflows.
• name: Notion
  why: General-purpose notes and knowledge workspace is a common alternative.
• name: Logseq
  why: Linked knowledge and research notes compete for personal knowledge workflows.

influencers

• name: Alan Chan
  url: https://medium.com/heptabase/heptabase-1-0-b9939aec6e62
  why: Co-founder who writes about the product's knowledge lifecycle and launches.

keywords

• visual note taking app
• research whiteboard software
• AI knowledge base
• PDF research notes
• personal knowledge management tool
• second brain visual notes
• linked notes for researchers

voice

• Thoughtful and educational
• Aspirational about learning
• Clear and product-led

signals

• text: Researcher collects sources in PDFs or reference managers and needs to organize arguments visually.
• text: A user is actively evaluating a second brain or switching from a text-first notes system to visual research.

stack

• Readwise
• Zotero
• MCP
• Claude
• ChatGPT

pricing

motion

channels

• SEO
• Discord community
• founder content
• tutorials
• app downloads

confidence

Founders

• name: Alan Chan
  title: Founder
  role: Founder
  bio: I'm the co-founder and CEO of Heptabase. I previously studied CS at Minerva University (2019), Physics & Math at National Taiwan University (2016) and voluntarily dropped out from both of them to pursue better ways of learning. I want to help people learn better, think deeper, and make sense of the massive information in our complex world. To achieve that, we're building the best learning tools that will sit on top of a global knowledge discovery platform.
• name: Yeefun Lin
  title: Founder
  role: Founder
  bio: I'm the co-founder and CTO of Heptabase. I studied Sociology at National Taiwan University (2019) and became a software engineer through self-learning. I believe the best knowledge management can produce the greatest ideas. Starting from Heptabase, we want to reinvent the whole knowledge management system.
• name: Ethan Wu
  title: Founder
  role: Founder
  bio: I’m the co-founder and product designer of Heptabase. Starting with my electronics engineering background in university, I ended up becoming obsessed with information design. I have a deep belief that knowledge coming from cross-disciplinary exploration plays a crucial part in human technology progress, and Heptabase’s original design began from here.