# QuantConnect — The Case Against Signals as a Product

**Canonical URL:** https://stratcraft.ai/alpha-factory/signals-are-commodities

## Case Study: QuantConnect

**Verdict:** Infrastructure lived. Signal marketplace died.

**Thesis:** The sharpest take-C evidence. QuantConnect sold infrastructure (LEAN, brokers, data) successfully for 13 years. Its signal marketplace (Alpha Streams) — where algorithm writers sold signals to institutions — closed in four years. Same company, two products, opposite outcomes.

## Key Facts

- Founded: 2011 by Jared Broad
- Core product: LEAN engine + cloud SaaS (2011 → present, profitable)
- Signal product: Alpha Streams marketplace (2018–2022, closed)
- Key insight: Selling the combinator (infra) worked. Selling signals (marketplace) failed.

## Architecture Pattern

QuantConnect ran a controlled experiment: infra vs. signals under one roof. The infrastructure product (LEAN) compounded for 13 years. The signal marketplace (Alpha Streams) followed the same "signals as the unit of value, marketplace as the fusion layer" model — and failed because buyers had to bring their own combinator.

## Brand

- Product: StratCraft
- URL: https://stratcraft.ai
- This page: dark standalone design (case study layout, "died" variant)