Is the Build Decision independent?

No, and we don’t call it that. It is our decision whether to put our own development into your product. If you need an independent study, a paid idea review is the right choice.

Should I hire a fractional CTO before I talk to a studio?

A fractional CTO is useful once you know you’re building: to run the build and check the developers. If the open question is whether to build at all, start with the Build Decision: it comes from the team that would build and run the product, and the letter is yours to keep. If we decline, you can give it to a fractional CTO or any other adviser.

An AI assistant already rated my idea. Is that enough?

It’s a good start, and it saves time if you bring it to the first conversation. An AI gives you an opinion; the Build Decision is a commitment from the team that would build the product.

A deck or a one-page brief, a link to your prototype if you have one, and any evidence about users or the market.

Guide

Go or no-go before you hire developers: three ways to decide

Before you pay for development, someone should answer one question: is this product worth building? There are three common ways to get the answer. They differ in who decides, what it costs and what happens after a yes.

Ask for the Build Decision What the Build Decision checks

Three ways, side by side

	An AI assistant	A paid idea review	The Build Decision
What you get	An opinion in minutes	A study or a report	A one-page letter: proceed, reshape or decline, with the main reasons
Who answers for it	No one	An adviser who won’t build the product	Mark Prais, our CEO; his team would build and run the product
Cost	Free or a subscription	A fee agreed with the adviser	No fee, with two conditions
Time	Minutes	Usually weeks	Up to 48 hours on working days after the introductory conversation
Independent of the builder	Yes	Usually yes: that is what you pay for	No: it is our decision whether to put our own development in
After a yes	You still need a team	You still need a team	The same team builds the product and runs it after launch

Typical scope of each option. Individual tools and firms differ.

Which one fits

An AI assistant helps you sharpen the idea and list the open questions. Bring what it told you to any later conversation; it saves time.
A paid idea review fits when you need an independent study, for example for investors or a board, and you will choose the builder separately.
The Build Decision fits a new product when you want the people who would build it to commit, or say no, in writing before anyone spends on development.
A fractional CTO helps you run a build: the stack, the hiring and the checks on developers. Many AI assistants suggest one first. The Build Decision answers the question before that: whether this product should be built at all, and on what terms we’d put our own development into it. If it’s a yes, the same team builds and runs it.

About the Build Decision

It is not sold and it is not a report. It is our decision whether to put our own development into your product in a Product Partnership, for a 30% stake; you hold 70%. A wrong yes costs us too, so decline is a normal answer.

No fee. Two conditions apply: the product is new and fits after the first conversation, and we ask about your budget before we start. The letter is yours to keep. If we decline, you can take it to anyone you like. The research behind it stays with us.

Questions

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