Native Opportunity Test
Back uses that exploit a new medium instead of copying the old one.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 99%
The Native Opportunity Test separates skeuomorphic products, which reproduce an old form in a new medium, from products that use the medium's distinctive capabilities. Dixon traces the pattern from early films staged like plays to web pages designed like magazines. Those analogies help people understand a new technology, but they rarely reveal its largest opportunities. The test first names the inherited form, then inventories what the new platform uniquely enables—such as two-way participation, programmable ownership, permissionless composition, or portable assets. A promising native product makes those capabilities essential rather than decorative. YouTube's embeddable, low-friction creator model is Dixon's example: it looked less respectable than putting television online, yet it created creators and behaviors native to the web.
Origin
Chris Dixon adapted the design term skeuomorphic into an investment lens for distinguishing copied old-world experiences from products native to a new technology.
Core principles
- 01New media initially imitate familiar forms.
- 02The largest opportunities exploit capabilities the previous medium lacked.
- 03Native products often look unserious before their new grammar becomes familiar.
- 04A familiar analogy can aid adoption without defining the final product.
How to run it
- 1
Name the inherited form
Describe the offline or previous-platform product being copied, including its assumptions and constraints.
Pro tip Look beyond visual design to the business model and user roles.
Watch out A digital interface does not make the underlying experience native.
- 2
Inventory new capabilities
List what the new medium makes possible that the old one could not support economically or technically.
Watch out Do not count generic speed or convenience as the only native advantage.
- 3
Test essentiality
Ask whether the product's core value depends on those new capabilities or merely adds them as features.
Pro tip Remove each capability mentally and see whether the proposition changes materially.
Watch out A token or blockchain label alone does not create a native use.
- 4
Observe emerging behavior
Look for users, creators, and communities developing practices that did not exist in the previous medium.
Pro tip Unfamiliar behavior may be more informative than polished presentation.
Watch out Novelty without durable utility is not enough.
- 5
Choose the native bet
Prefer the credible product whose mechanism expands the medium's grammar rather than preserving the old industry's structure.
Watch out Skeuomorphic products can still work; the test identifies likely breakthrough scale, not universal failure.
In the wild
Dixon recalls two early video approaches: YouTube's seamless, embeddable creator platform and services that tried to put television networks on the internet. The native model looked full of silly or infringing videos, but it enabled a new creator community that later surpassed traditional sports leagues in subscribers.
→ The product and its native creators became the winners of internet video.
Loot began with simple NFT cards containing fantasy inventory words. Instead of delivering a finished top-down game, it let a community create many narratives and experiences around the primitive.
→ The unfinished, composable starting point enabled a form of game creation that depended on web3 ownership and community participation.
Common mistakes
Digitizing the old workflow
Moving a familiar form online can preserve the very constraints the new platform removes.
Rejecting unfamiliar creators
Native creators often look unserious because their format has no established prestige yet.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for evaluating products built on new media, platforms, protocols, or computing primitives.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when a familiar interface is intentionally required for accessibility, migration, or regulatory compatibility.
From the transcript
“one of the most common mistakes people make when evaluating new technologies is to focus too much on doing old things better”
“this happens with every every new technology the first cars they mimicking the horses”
“the best investment approach was to bet on the native stuff”
From the episode
#542: Chris Dixon and Naval Ravikant — The Wonders of Web3, How to Pick the Right Hill to Climb, Finding the Right Amount of Crypto Regulation, Friends with Benefits, and the Untapped Potential of NFTs
Chris Dixon