← Playbooks
Options Edge~11 min read·2,438 words

OptionsEdge Marketing Playbook

The One-Liner

"A scanner that finds mispriced options using 3 volatility models. When implied vol is above realized vol, you sell premium. The math does the work."

Positioning

Position against: Guru-picks services (Option Alpha, Benzinga Options, Motley Fool Options, tastytrade premium picks). Their weakness: opaque methodology, "trust me" signals, survivorship bias on track records.

Your position: Counterculture / "Best" tier. "We don't pick options for you. We show you where the math says volatility is overpriced, with 3 independent models and walk-forward backtests. You decide."

Good/Better/Best placement:

  • Good: Free screeners (Barchart, FinViz options screens) -- generic filters, no vol models
  • Better: tastytrade, OptionAlpha -- educational + some tools, personality-driven
  • Best: OptionsEdge -- quantitative, transparent methodology, evidence-based. The Festool of options tools.

Elevator pitch test: "Oh, like tastytrade?" --> "tastytrade teaches you about options. We scan the entire market daily with 3 volatility models -- GARCH, realized vol windows, and IV rank -- and show you exactly where the variance risk premium is fattest. You see the models, you see the backtest, you decide. No gurus, no picks, just math."

Smallest Viable Audience

The ONE person: A 35-45 year old software engineer or data professional who sells covered calls and cash-secured puts in a $100K-$500K portfolio. Quantitatively literate. Skeptical of financial influencers. Wants to systematize what they're already doing manually (checking IV rank on individual tickers). Has a day job and 30 minutes/day for options. Probably already uses Python or Excel for personal finance.

Who it is NOT for:

  • Day traders looking for 0DTE scalps
  • People who want someone to tell them what to buy
  • Beginners who don't know what implied volatility means
  • Wallstreetbets gamblers looking for 10-baggers

Where they hang out:

  • r/thetagang (295K members) -- the mothership
  • r/options (1M+ members) -- broader, but theta sellers are vocal
  • r/algotrading (230K members) -- quant-minded traders
  • r/RealDayTrading -- more serious than most trading subs
  • Bogleheads forum (options/income subforum)
  • HackerNews (when finance topics come up)
  • QuantConnect/QuantConnect community forums

Product-Channel Fit

Primary channel: Reddit (content-driven, search-indexed)

  • Product naturally generates content: daily scan results, interesting vol signals, backtest summaries
  • Reddit rewards expertise and transparency -- OptionsEdge's methodology IS the content
  • Reddit threads rank in Google and feed AI search (LLM training data)
  • Channel economics: $0 CAC, $120 LTV. Works at any scale.

Secondary channel: SEO/Blog (long-form educational)

  • "variance risk premium explained" / "GARCH model options trading" / "implied volatility vs realized volatility" are long-tail keywords with low competition and high intent
  • Every concept behind the scanner is a blog post that ranks and drives qualified traffic
  • Product-channel fit: the product IS the methodology, and the methodology IS the content

Channel rules conformance:

  • Reddit: personal account, value-first, show the math, never pitch
  • SEO: educational long-form, methodology-first, tool as natural CTA

NOT a fit:

  • TikTok/Instagram (audience is entertainment-seekers, not quant traders)
  • Facebook ads (LTV too low for paid acquisition at this stage)
  • YouTube (could work later, but production overhead is too high for 5 hrs/week)

The Offer

Hook (first 5 seconds):

  • Problem-aware: "Most covered call sellers pick strike prices by gut feel. Here's what happens when you let 3 volatility models pick for you."
  • Solution-aware: "Every IV rank screener shows you the same number. None of them tell you whether that number actually predicts premium decay. We backtest it."
  • Unaware: "There's a mathematical edge hiding in plain sight in the options market. It's called the variance risk premium, and it's been positive 85% of months for the last 20 years."

Value equation:

  • Dream outcome: "Find the options where you're statistically most likely to keep the premium" (selling overpriced vol)
  • Time delay: "Daily automated scans -- 30 seconds to check, not 2 hours of manual screening"
  • Perceived likelihood: "3 independent models must converge. Walk-forward backtested. Not one guru's opinion."
  • Effort reduction: "Scans run automatically via GitHub Actions. Results delivered daily. You just check the dashboard."

Lead magnet: "The Variance Risk Premium Cheat Sheet"

  • One-page PDF: what the VRP is, why it exists (insurance premium), historical win rates by VRP decile, and the 3 signals OptionsEdge uses
  • Reveal-a-problem type: shows them that their current method of picking strikes (IV rank alone) misses 60% of the signal
  • CTA: "Want to see today's scan? Check options-edge.vercel.app"

Alternative lead magnet: Free backtest report

  • "Enter a ticker. We'll show you what selling the 30-delta put every month for 5 years would have returned -- with and without the VRP filter."
  • One-step-of-many type: shows value of the filter on their favorite ticker, but they need the daily scanner for ongoing signals

Content Strategy

SPCL application:

  • Status: Share backtest results -- "Our VRP filter improved the Sharpe ratio on SPY covered calls from 0.8 to 1.4 over 10 years." Hard numbers are status signals to quant-minded people.
  • Power: Teach the frameworks. "Here's how GARCH(1,1) works in 5 minutes." When they implement it and it clicks, you've demonstrated power.
  • Credibility: Walk-forward validation methodology. "We didn't just curve-fit. Here's the out-of-sample performance." Quant people respect methodological rigor above all else.
  • Likeness: "I built this because I was tired of manually checking IV rank on 50 tickers every morning. So I automated it." Builder story, not guru story.

Three repeating content themes:

  1. "The Math Behind the Edge" -- educational posts explaining VRP, GARCH, vol surfaces, term structure. These are the evergreen power pieces.
  2. "What the Scanner Found This Week" -- weekly recap of interesting signals, what happened, win/loss. This is the status piece (showing results) and proof piece.
  3. "Common Theta Gang Mistakes" -- diagnostic content. "You're selling 45 DTE puts on high-IV tickers. Here's why that's leaving money on the table." Problem-aware hooks that attract the right audience.

Content-to-product pipeline:

  • Reddit comments (power + likeness) --> profile click --> blog post (power + credibility) --> OptionsEdge dashboard (product)
  • Blog posts rank in Google --> direct traffic --> dashboard
  • Weekly scan recap posts on Reddit --> discussion --> profile visits

Reddit Playbook

Target subreddits (ranked by priority):

  1. r/thetagang (primary) -- 295K members, entire sub is your ICP. Posts about wheel strategy, CSPs, covered calls daily. Highly active.
  2. r/options (primary) -- 1M+, broader but many theta sellers. Sort by "new" and answer questions about IV, premium selling.
  3. r/algotrading (secondary) -- 230K, more technical. Share methodology, not results. They respect code and math.
  4. r/Vitards (secondary) -- steel/commodity traders who sell premium. Niche but high-quality.
  5. r/personalfinance (occasional) -- when covered call questions come up, add value with data.

Value-first comment examples:

On a r/thetagang post "How do you pick which tickers to sell puts on?":

"In an effort to add value -- I spent about 6 months backtesting different selection criteria for CSPs. IV rank alone (the standard 'sell when IV rank > 50') actually has a weak predictive relationship with premium decay. What works better is the spread between implied and realized vol (the variance risk premium). When IV is 30% but 20-day realized vol is only 18%, that 12-point spread is your actual edge -- not the IV rank number. I run a GARCH model daily to estimate where realized vol is heading, and only sell premium when 3 different vol estimates all say IV is overpriced. Win rate went from ~62% (random high-IV-rank picks) to ~74% in walk-forward testing. Happy to share the methodology if anyone wants to dig into it."

On a r/algotrading post "Anyone built a vol model?":

"Built a GARCH(1,1) implementation for options premium selling. The key insight was that a single model has too much estimation error -- you get whipsawed by regime changes. Running 3 independent volatility estimates (GARCH, exponentially weighted realized vol, and a simple IV/HV ratio) and requiring convergence cut false signals roughly in half. Walk-forward validated over 15 years of SPY data. If you're interested in the approach, I wrote up the methodology on my site."

90-day plan:

  • Weeks 1-2: Set up personal Reddit account with bio: "Building quantitative options tools. 10+ years in data/quant." Lurk r/thetagang and r/options. Read top 50 posts of all time.
  • Weeks 3-6: Comment 2-3x daily on theta gang questions. Share methodology, never mention the product. Build karma.
  • Weeks 7-8: First long-form post on r/thetagang: "I backtested 6 different strike selection methods for CSPs. Here's what actually works." Include methodology, charts, data. Mention OptionsEdge only in passing at the end.
  • Weeks 9-12: Weekly "What the scanner found" discussion posts. Start engaging r/algotrading with methodology posts. Profile should now show clear expertise pattern.

First 10 Users

Specific tactics:

  1. Post the backtest methodology on r/thetagang as a long-form value post. Include charts. The post itself IS the lead magnet. CTA at bottom: "I automated this into a daily scanner if anyone wants to check it out: options-edge.vercel.app"
  2. Find 5 active r/thetagang posters who regularly share their trades. DM: "Hey, I've been building a VRP scanner and noticed you trade a similar strategy. Would love your feedback on whether the signals are useful -- totally free, just want real trader eyes on it."
  3. Post on HackerNews "Show HN" -- "I built a GARCH-based options scanner that identifies mispriced volatility." HN loves technical side projects.
  4. Find 3 options-focused Discord servers (tastytrade community, Option Alpha community, Theta Gang discord). Lurk, add value, share when relevant.
  5. Cross-post methodology to r/algotrading -- different framing, more technical, same content.

Sean Ellis PMF survey for OptionsEdge:

"How would you feel if you could no longer use OptionsEdge?"

  • Very disappointed: "I'd go back to manually checking IV rank on individual tickers, which takes 2 hours and misses the VRP signal entirely."
  • Somewhat disappointed: "I'd miss the convenience but could probably build something similar myself."

Activation moment: The first time a user sees a scan result, looks up the ticker, confirms the IV/HV spread, and thinks "I would have missed this." That's the aha moment -- the scanner found an edge they wouldn't have found manually.

Activation optimization:

  • Landing page should show TODAY's scan results immediately -- no signup wall for the basic view
  • First-time visitor sees real signals with real tickers, real IV/HV spreads, real VRP scores
  • The "aha" happens before they create an account

Word of Mouth Trigger

What makes someone tell a friend: "I found this scanner that uses 3 vol models to find overpriced options. It's like having a quant desk but free. Here's the backtest."

The conversation trigger is the backtest results chart -- a shareable visual artifact. When someone screenshots the VRP performance chart and posts it in a Discord or group chat, the chart does the selling.

Visibility problem and fix: Options trading is private -- nobody sees your screen. Fix: design shareable output.

  • Weekly "Signal of the Week" card with ticker, VRP score, model convergence visualization -- designed to be screenshot-worthy
  • Monthly performance tracker that users can share: "My VRP-filtered trades this month: 8/10 winners, +$X"

Status play: Dominance. "I found a quantitative edge most people don't know about." The type of person who sells premium is exactly the type who enjoys being the smart one in the room. Sharing OptionsEdge signals in a trading Discord = "I have access to better tools than you."

Weekly Action Plan (5 hrs/week)

Week 1: Reddit Foundation

  • Create Reddit account with options-focused bio and human photo (15 min)
  • Read top 50 all-time posts on r/thetagang, note common questions and language (1 hr)
  • Read top 50 all-time posts on r/options, note common questions (1 hr)
  • Comment on 3 posts per day on r/thetagang with genuine value (1 hr, spread across days)
  • Draft the VRP Cheat Sheet lead magnet -- 1 page PDF (1.5 hr)

Week 2: Content Foundation

  • Write blog post: "What Is the Variance Risk Premium and Why Options Sellers Should Care" (2 hr)
  • Continue 3 Reddit comments/day on r/thetagang and r/options (1 hr)
  • Create a "Signal of the Week" card template -- shareable visual with ticker, VRP score, model convergence (1 hr)
  • Post first Signal of the Week card to r/thetagang as a discussion prompt (30 min)
  • Set up UTM tracking for Reddit profile link (30 min)

Week 3: Long-Form Value Post

  • Write and publish long-form r/thetagang post: "I Backtested 6 Strike Selection Methods for CSPs -- Here's What Actually Predicts Premium Decay" (3 hr)
  • Continue daily Reddit commenting (45 min)
  • Write blog post: "Why IV Rank Alone Is a Weak Signal" (1 hr)
  • Reply to every comment on the long-form post (15 min)

Week 4: Outreach + HN

  • DM 5 active r/thetagang members for feedback on the scanner (30 min)
  • Submit "Show HN" post with technical methodology focus (1 hr)
  • Write blog post: "How GARCH Models Predict Realized Volatility" (1.5 hr)
  • Post weekly scan recap as r/thetagang discussion (30 min)
  • Measure: traffic from Reddit, profile clicks, signups, VRP Cheat Sheet downloads (30 min)
  • Continue daily Reddit commenting (1 hr)

Metrics to Track

  • Reddit karma growth (leading indicator of authority)
  • Profile clicks from Reddit (UTM tracked)
  • Blog traffic from Reddit referral vs organic search
  • Weekly unique visitors to options-edge.vercel.app
  • Signups (if gated features exist)
  • VRP Cheat Sheet downloads
  • IRL responses: DMs, comments like "this is exactly what I was looking for"
  • Weekly scan recap engagement (upvotes, comments, saves)

Kill Criteria

Stop investing after 90 days if ALL of the following are true:

  • Long-form Reddit posts get fewer than 20 upvotes and fewer than 10 comments
  • Fewer than 5 people have voluntarily DM'd about the scanner
  • Blog posts get fewer than 100 organic visits/month
  • No one has shared a Signal of the Week card unprompted

If the Reddit posts get engagement but nobody visits the scanner, it's a product problem (activation), not a distribution problem. Fix activation before spending more time on content.

If the Reddit posts get no engagement, the audience doesn't care about the methodology framing. Test reframing around results ("I made $X selling premium using this system") instead of methodology ("Here's how GARCH works").