Proof of Usefulness Report

Brown Living

Analysis completed on 1/16/2026

+196
Proof of Usefulness Score
Gaining Momentum

Brown Living is a legitimate, verifiable sustainable marketplace in India with approximately $300k-$600k annual revenue and recent pre-seed funding (Oct 2024). However, the project submission itself is of very poor quality, containing demonstrable falsehoods (e.g., claiming 'most people have used my product' and audience is 'everyone'). While the business shows promise in the 'Small but promising' category (100-250 range), the submission's lack of professionalism and exaggerated claims necessitate penalties in the Traction and Response Quality metrics. The platform solves a genuine problem (plastic-free commerce) with a verified proprietary curation framework ('The Brown Lens').

Ready to Compete for $150k+ in Prizes?

Move this data into a HackerNoon blog draft to become eligible for your share of $150k+ in cash and software prizes

View All Reports

Score Breakdown

Real World Utility+80
Audience Reach Impact+24
Technical Innovation+21
Evidence Of Traction+48
Market Timing Relevance+34
Functional Completeness+1
Subtotal+208
Usefulness Multiplierx0.94
Final Score+196

Project Details

Project URL
Description
Brown Living is a one-stop-shop for all things sustainable that you will need to live a low-impact and plastic-free lifestyle. Brown Living curates products for someone who is committed to reducing their waste and plastic-footprint.\n\nA lot of products in the market today have been greenwashed with labels that aren’t really eco-friendly or sustainable. Through our marketplace, we will sell products from suppliers who make truly sustainable products - by design, by use and by the packaging - this enables consumers to engage in responsible consumption and reduce their individual carbon impact. We follow a strict framework for product selection that helps us weed out the not-so-sustainable products through our curation process - The Brown Lens. The process evaluates the product for its entire lifecycle with a circular design and Cradle-to-Cradle concepts in mind and measures its carbon impact not just until it reaches the customer but helps in closing the loop by filtering out the non-sustainable elements, educating and communicating about the end-of-life use.\n\nThrough our online marketplace, we aim to promote small businesses in India who run their businesses with respect for people and the planet and those who create products with zero-waste in mind. \nBrown Living is a platform for artists, artisans and small businesses who make sustainable products of various types in food, clothing, accessories, home care, utility and upcycled decor.
Audience Reach
everyone
Target Users
everyone
Technologies
Climatetech, Developer Tools, Design
Traction Evidence
most people have used my product

Algorithm Insights

Market Position
Growing utility with room for optimization
User Engagement
Documented reach suggests active user community
Technical Stack
Modern tech stack aligned with sponsor technologies

Recommendations to Increase Usefulness Score

Document User Growth

Provide specific metrics on user acquisition and retention rates

Showcase Revenue Model

Detail sustainable monetization strategy and current revenue streams

Expand Evidence Base

Include testimonials, case studies, and third-party validation

Technical Roadmap

Share development milestones and feature completion timeline