Entry engagement — start here
Idea-to-Software Blueprint
Turn a concept into a validated product plan you own.
- Duration
- 2 weeks
- Format
- Remote, 3–4 working sessions
- Fee
- Fixed fee, from $7,500
If you go on to a build engagement with us, this fee is credited to it in full — so a confident “yes” to the work costs you nothing extra for the discovery.
This is for you if
- You have a software idea or a painful manual process, and no clear plan for turning it into a product.
- You need a defensible budget number before you can ask anyone to approve it.
- You would rather find the flaw in the idea now than six months into a build.
This is not for you if
- You already have a detailed, agreed specification and simply want it implemented — go straight to a build conversation.
- You are looking for a free proposal that estimates a project nobody has scoped yet.
The problem it solves
Most software fails long before anyone writes code. It fails because the problem was never stated precisely, because nobody agreed which users mattered, or because a scope that sounded reasonable in a meeting turned out to be three products wearing a trenchcoat.
By the time that becomes obvious, the budget is committed and the team is too far in to say so. A short, paid discovery is the cheapest insurance available against that outcome.
How it runs
What we actually do
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Week 1 — Understand
Stakeholder interviews, current-state process mapping, and a clear statement of the business problem in your words rather than ours.
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Week 1 — Frame
Users and the outcomes each one needs. Assumptions made explicit. Risks and dependencies listed rather than discovered later.
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Week 2 — Shape
Solution concept, architecture direction, integration and data realities, and the smallest version that would genuinely be useful.
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Week 2 — Plan
Prioritized backlog, release plan, investment range with the assumptions behind it, and a recommended first step.
Deliverables
What you receive
Documents you keep, whether or not you continue with us.
- Current-state process map
- User and business problem statement
- Prioritized product backlog with acceptance criteria for the first release
- Architecture direction and key technical decisions, with the alternatives we rejected
- MVP scope — including an explicit list of what is out of scope
- Release plan and delivery roadmap
- Risk and dependency register
- Investment estimate with stated assumptions
- A recommended next step, even when that step is not us
What happens afterwards
Most Blueprints lead into a build — either a Product Development Partnership or a fixed first release. Some conclude that the idea is not worth building yet, or that an off-the-shelf product will do. That is a successful outcome, and you keep the plan either way.
Questions we are usually asked
Do we own the output?
Yes, entirely. The Blueprint is yours to take to any development partner, including your own team. We would obviously like to build it, but the plan is not leverage.
What if we already know what we want to build?
Then the Blueprint is shorter and focuses on architecture, scope discipline and estimation. Tell us on the call and we will scope it accordingly.
Why not just give us a proposal?
Because a proposal for work nobody has scoped is a guess, and guesses get corrected by change requests later. Paid discovery before a fixed-price commitment is how we protect both sides.
How much of our time does it take?
Roughly six to eight hours across two weeks from the people who understand the problem, plus a two-hour readout session.