Marketplace
Discovery for a regulated marketplace
Validated demand, mapped regulatory constraints, and scoped an MVP small enough to launch in two regions before committing to a global platform build.
- Regulated scope
- Two-region MVP
- Phased roadmap
Systems & Automation
Validate the product before you fund the build
User research, prototypes, and MVP scoping that turn vague ideas into a roadmap your team — and your investors — can actually defend.
What this solves
What discovery prevents
Most failed products were built confidently — on assumptions nobody tested.
Building features users never wanted
Internal opinions winning over actual user evidence.
MVPs that aren't actually minimal
Six months of scope before the first real user touches anything.
No clear success metric
Nobody can say what 'this worked' actually looks like.
Stakeholders pulling in different directions
Founder, ops, and sales each describing a different product.
Roadmaps based on competitor screenshots
Copying surface decisions without understanding the trade-offs behind them.
Estimation without scope
Numbers thrown at the wall before the problem is even agreed on.
What we cover
What discovery covers
Everything you need to get from idea to a defensible, fundable, buildable plan — without committing to a year of development first.
01
Idea validation
Pressure-test the underlying assumptions before they become product debt.
02
User and market research
Interviews, surveys, competitive analysis, and segment definition grounded in real data.
03
Feature prioritization
Effort, value, and risk scoring so the roadmap reflects what matters — not what's loudest in the room.
04
MVP definition
A minimum that is genuinely minimum — and small enough to actually learn from.
05
User flows
Core journeys mapped end-to-end so design and engineering work from the same picture.
06
Clickable prototypes
Interactive prototypes used in real user sessions, not just internal demos.
07
Technical feasibility
Honest review of what's hard, what's risky, and where the platform decisions matter.
08
Roadmap
Phased plan with sequencing, dependencies, and clear go/no-go points.
09
Estimation
Effort and timeline ranges your team and investors can defend with a straight face.
What we deliver
What you walk away with
A defensible product plan — grounded in evidence, ready to fund, and small enough to actually ship.
01
User interviews and segment definition
02
Problem and opportunity framing
03
Clickable prototypes
04
MVP scope and prioritization
05
Success metrics and validation plan
06
Phased roadmap with effort estimates
07
Risk and feasibility notes
How we work
Our discovery process
01
Kickoff and goal framing
Align on what you're trying to learn, not what you're trying to ship.
02
User and market research
Interviews, surveys, and competitive review tied to specific decisions.
03
Problem and opportunity framing
Document the real problem and the smallest thing worth building first.
04
Prototype
Clickable prototypes tested with real users, not internal stakeholders.
05
MVP scoping and estimation
Scope, sequencing, and effort estimates honest enough to fund.
06
Handoff to build
Documented roadmap that engineering can pick up — with us or with another team.
Project examples
Project examples
Anonymous examples of the types of projects this work supports.
Enterprise tool
Internal tool — discovery before build
Ran user research across three internal teams that had all asked for the same tool — and discovered they actually needed three different things. Saved a wasted build.
- Multi-team research
- Re-scoped MVP
- Avoided rebuild
Connected services
Often combined with
Services that naturally strengthen this work.
Industries
Relevant industries
Where this work tends to make the biggest impact.
FAQ
Questions we get asked
Short, honest answers. If you have something more specific, just ask.
Contact
Let's get the plan small enough to fund
Tell us the idea. We'll suggest the smallest possible discovery engagement that will give you and your team real confidence in the next step.
- • Reply within one business day
- • Short call to align on goals and scope
- • Honest recommendation, even if it's not us