Question 1

What is Lodestake?

Accepted Answer

A tool for testing a startup idea before you commit to building it. In the app you can generate, enrich, browse and save ideas, turn one into a business plan, and check names and domains. Evidence reports, which tie every claim to a source, are in pilot.

Question 2

Is Lodestake the same as CloviIdea?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Lodestake is the new name. The app still opens as CloviIdea at cloviidea.clovitek.com while the rename finishes.

Question 3

Can I run an evidence report myself?

Accepted Answer

Not yet. Evidence reports run on our side during the pilot. Self-serve in the app is coming, and this page will say when it is live.

Question 4

What does “evidence before excitement” mean in practice?

Accepted Answer

Numbers in a report must come from fetched sources the sentence cites. The verifier removes any number that does not, and the report lists what it could not establish under Unknowns.

Question 5

Does Lodestake tell me if my idea is good?

Accepted Answer

No. It shows what can and cannot be supported, and ends with reasons to build and reasons not to. The decision is yours.

Question 6

How accurate is it?

Accepted Answer

A kept sentence means its numbers appear in a source it cites; it does not make the source right. Open the sources that matter to your decision, and treat the scores as summaries with reasons, not verdicts.

Question 7

Can I check names and domains?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The app suggests names, checks domains with the registries and handles on the main social networks, and builds a name report. The report’s scoring is still being improved, and it is never a trademark clearance.

Question 8

Does Lodestake screen trademarks?

Accepted Answer

Not yet. Trademark signals from public government sources are coming, and will not be legal advice when they arrive.

Question 9

Can I take my work into other tools?

Accepted Answer

Yes: export a venture packet from a plan. The hand-off to brand work is a link for now; a fuller hand-off is coming.

Question 10

How much does it cost?

Accepted Answer

There are no public prices yet. Plans are moving to a new account area and prices will be published with that move.

Question 11

Do you have an API?

Accepted Answer

Yes, for ideas, plans, names and domains. The public name and domain checks need no account. See the API docs; the report API is coming.

Question 12

Where does the name come from?

Accepted Answer

Prospectors test a lode before they stake a claim on it. Lodestake is the moment after the test, when you know what the ground holds.

Talk to us about your idea.