What happens in the first week

When an application looks like a fit, we do not send a proposal. We spend a week inside the problem first. It is the cheapest week of the whole build, and the one that most often decides whether the product works.

Why a week, and not a call

A one-hour call tells us what you think the product is. A week tells us what it needs to be. In that time we can talk to the people who will use it, look at the real data, and test the riskiest assumption before anyone commits to a roadmap.

It is also how you find out what working with us is like, before either side signs up for months together.

What we look at

The week covers the three things that sink most new products when nobody examines them:

• The users. Who has the problem, how they solve it today, and what would make them switch. We would rather hear it from them than from a slide.
• The data. What exists, who owns it, how messy it is, and what the product can promise as a result. For AI products this usually decides the architecture.
• The opportunity. Why now, what the market looks like, and what a first version must do to earn the next one.

What to bring

• Access to two or three people who have the problem, even informally.
• The data or systems the product depends on, or a realistic sample.
• Your honest view of what is uncertain. The unknowns are where the week earns its keep.

What comes out of it

At the end of the week we give you a clear answer. Either we think there is a product we can build exceptionally well, and we agree the shape of the build and how the engagement will work, or we think there is not, and we tell you why. Both outcomes are useful, and the second is more common than people expect.

If there is a fit, the build usually takes 8 to 16 weeks to launch, with the whole team on it. Read why we only take on one company at a time, or see the whole process on one page.

Ready to start? Apply here, or write to us at hello@prizenlabs.com.