How to start a Forensic File-Deletion Tracing Beyond Windows Logs business: plan and growth
PDFs vanish from a network share and the audit log only shows the same user and laptop with 'PID 4 (System)'. Standard logs can't explain what happened.
An owner can start “Forensic File-Deletion Tracing Beyond Windows Logs” from a complaint people already posted. The offer, in one line: Explain 'PID 4 System' deletions by correlating cloud sync, antivirus and scripts with audit events. It is for sysadmins. Charge a B2B subscription, and test a price between $50 and $199 a month. Begin in more than one country. Buyers already talk about this in r/sysadmin. One thread gathered 47 votes and 45 replies across Sep 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026. Use that room to meet the first twenty buyers. Do not export it, and do not republish the posts. The idea, the evidence, and the market estimate on this page are free to read. Two paid prompts finish the job: one drafts the offer, the price, and a ninety-day calendar; the other drafts a month of conversations and proof. One credit unlocks both. A software specification is not on this site. When the company is the product itself, a single link further down opens the founder library.
PDFs exported from Excel to a network drive share…r/sysadmin · Sep 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026 · 47 votes · 45 replies · Open the thread
Who would pay
Sysadmins. Start in more than one country, and charge a B2B subscription, testing a price between $50 and $199 a month.
The thread above is the public complaint this business can learn from. Verbatim quotes are not invented. Further sources, when a later report adds them, stay with the evidence.
What buyers use today
- Windows Event Viewer
- Netwrix
- Varonis
The offer, in our words
A deep file-event forensics tool that enriches Windows logs with context (cloud sync, antivirus, scripts) to explain 'system' deletions.
Score 2.90, Simmering. Pain, willingness to pay, demand, and the gap in current options drive it. We are not scoring how fast you can code.
Market size
An estimate, built from the bottom up: real customer counts × a realistic price. It shows the size of the prize, not a forecast.
TAM Total addressable
$119M a year
99,000 orgs · 30% of US network and systems administrators
SAM Serviceable
$24M a year
20,000 orgs · English-speaking, online
SOM Obtainable in 3 years
$240K a year
200 orgs · 1% of the reachable segment in three years
What that means
200 orgs at $100/mo = $240K ARR
Low confidence · estimated Oct 2026
How we estimated this
- Base: 331,500 US network and systems administrators.
- Has the problem: 30% (assume 30% run Windows file servers with audit needs).
- Revenue per org: $1,200 per year ($99/mo).
- Reachable: 20% (English-speaking, online).
- Three-year capture: 1% of the reachable segment.
TAM is customers with the problem × revenue per customer. SAM is the part a new business can reach. SOM is a cautious three-year share of SAM. The bars use a log scale. A share marked “assume” is our judgment, not a measurement.
Source: BLS Occupational Outlook, 2024
The business-plan prompt
The offer, the price, and a ninety-day calendar, written for an agent. 1 credit unlocks both prompts for this idea: this plan and the growth playbook below.
# Business plan prompt: Forensic File-Deletion Tracing Beyond Windows Logs You are writing a practical plan for one owner who will sell this as a business. Do not write a software specification, a venture memo, or a feature list. Use short sentences. Where a number is unknown, give a range and say what to measure. ## The business Working name: Forensic File-Deletion Tracing Beyond Windows Logs What the customer gets: Explain 'PID 4 System' deletions by correlating cloud sync, antivirus and scripts with audit events. Who pays: Sysadmins
Locked · the first lines are above
Unlock both prompts for this idea · 1 credit ($9.99)
One credit opens the business plan and the growth playbook together, for good. Credits work on both businessideastobuild.com and realstartupideas.com.
Sign in once with your Real Startup Ideas account; the same credits work on both sites.
The growth playbook
Thirty weekdays of conversations and proof. Not an ad plan. Included with the plan above, on the same credit.
# Growth prompt: Forensic File-Deletion Tracing Beyond Windows Logs You are planning thirty days of distribution for a business that already has an offer. The offer: Explain 'PID 4 System' deletions by correlating cloud sync, antivirus and scripts with audit events. The buyer: sysadmins. Price band: between $50 and $199 a month. Do not propose ads, a viral loop, or a rebrand. Propose conversations, proof, and a repeatable weekly rhythm. ## Starting point A public thread in r/sysadmin drew 47 votes and 45 replies. The pain, in the owner's words: PDFs vanish from a network share and the audit log only shows the same user and laptop with 'PID 4 (System)'. Standard logs can't explain what happened.
Locked · the first lines are above
Unlock both prompts for this idea · 1 credit ($9.99)
One credit opens the business plan and the growth playbook together, for good. Credits work on both businessideastobuild.com and realstartupideas.com.
Sign in once with your Real Startup Ideas account; the same credits work on both sites.
Questions
How much money do I need to start?
Enough to talk to buyers and deliver the offer once. A service version can start with a written process and a way to take payment. A software version is a larger bet and is not required to test the price. The band to test is $50–199 a month.
How should I price it?
Test a price between $50 and $199 a month, charged as a B2B subscription. Raise it after three paid pilots, not before the first conversation.
Where do the first customers come from?
r/sysadmin is the clue. A related thread gathered 47 votes and 45 replies. Show up there, follow the room's rules, and ask for conversations. Do not scrape it.
Do I need to write code?
No. The prompts on this page draft a plan and a month of growth. Code is a later choice. The founder site linked once below is where the build document lives, if you want it.
The founder library has the software specification and a done-for-you build. Get the build PRD
A two-week build starts at $10,000 on that site, after a $1,000 scoping fee.
Plans and growth playbooks
One credit opens both prompts for this business.
The idea, the evidence, and the market estimate stay free. The business plan and the thirty-day growth playbook for Forensic File-Deletion Tracing Beyond Windows Logs cost one credit, together, and stay unlocked.
Credits work on both businessideastobuild.com and realstartupideas.com. Sign in once with your Real Startup Ideas account; it is the same wallet.