Before you build•Before you raise•Before you spend

Building and delivery

Both reviews end with a report, and for some founders that is the whole requirement. Others need the work carried out once the plan is agreed.

I build and release products, so where a review leads on to a build, that work can continue with me. It is scoped separately from the review, either as a delivery phase with its own plan and cost, or as fractional CTO time alongside whatever team is being assembled.

The same applies to the work that arrives once a build is under way: hiring the first developers, selecting and managing suppliers, and getting an existing team moving again.

Fees and scope

Both reviews are a fixed fee, agreed in writing before any work starts. Neither is open-ended and neither is billed by the hour.

Fees vary with the work involved and the stage the company is at. Assessing an idea that has not been built yet involves less work than assessing a product with several years of development behind it and a team that has changed over that time. The fee is agreed once that is clear.

If a review leads on to a build, a discount applies to the build. The amount depends on the size of the work and is agreed with the quote.

Before the work starts

1. The first step is a call, at no cost, to work out what is actually needed. That might be one of the two reviews, or it might be that the direction is already clear and the conversation is about building it.
2. If you decide to go ahead, the engagement itself begins with a questionnaire. It covers the idea, what has already been built, who has had access to it, and what you do and do not want built. Completing it takes about an hour and it is where most of the useful detail comes from.
3. We then spend a few hours together on your product and business requirements, ending with a written list of the questions the report will answer. That list is what the finished report is measured against.

In total the engagement asks for around half a day of your time.