Locating unclaimed or forgotten shares using ID number: VALIDATE, 62/100 | Ideas Lab

A search tool that aggregates unclaimed share registries to help individuals find forgotten investments using their ID number.

The pain

People inherit shares, receive employee stock, or make investments years ago and lose track of them. When they want to find these assets, there's no single place to search, they must contact individual brokers, companies, or government agencies separately. This creates friction and causes real money to remain unclaimed.

The gap

Most countries have fragmented systems: some shares sit with defunct brokers, some with transfer agents, some in government unclaimed property databases. No single interface queries across these sources. Existing solutions require knowing which company or broker holds your shares, which defeats the purpose.

Build angle

Start by aggregating data from one country's unclaimed property registries and transfer agent databases (US NAUPA, UK Unclaimed Assets Register, etc.). Build a simple search by ID number that returns matches across these sources. Revenue through referral fees from brokers/transfer agents when users claim shares, or subscription from financial advisors who use it for client discovery.

Strengths

Real, quantifiable problem, billions in unclaimed shares exist globally
Clear user need with low friction to adoption (one search vs. manual outreach)
Regulatory data already public in many jurisdictions; no need to build registries from scratch
Multiple revenue models possible (referral, B2B, premium features)

Risks

Regulatory complexity: securities laws vary by country; data access restrictions may block aggregation
Fragmented data sources: many registries don't have APIs; manual scraping is brittle and expensive to maintain
Low transaction frequency: users search once every 5-10 years; hard to build habit or recurring revenue
Incumbent friction: brokers and transfer agents may not cooperate on referral fees; they benefit from dormancy
Market size uncertainty: unclear what percentage of people with unclaimed shares would use a tool vs. never searching
Verification burden: proving identity to claim shares still requires manual steps; tool only solves discovery, not resolution

Fly Labs Method

Is the pain real, is there a gap, is it the right time, can one person build it.

62

Value Equation

Dream outcome and how likely it feels, against the time and effort it costs.

58

One-Person Business

Curiosity pull, identity fit, and a path from free value to paid for a solo creator.

71

Viral Frameworks

Hook strength, shareability, and how cheaply it can be tested.

52

Builder Lens

Evidence the problem exists, timing, defensibility, and a model that fits on a napkin.

48

Five lenses, one composite. How scoring works

The angle

Start by aggregating data from one country's unclaimed property registries and transfer agent databases (US NAUPA, UK Unclaimed Assets Register, etc.). Build a simple search by ID number that returns matches across these sources. Revenue through referral fees from brokers/transfer agents when users claim shares, or subscription from financial advisors who use it for client discovery.

No market research recorded for this idea yet.

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