A startup consultant who tests the idea before you build it

Most startup work isn't a build problem, it's a certainty problem. I help early-stage teams find out whether an idea is worth building before you spend a quarter of runway on it — product strategy, demand validation, and hands-on delivery once the answer is yes.

I ran exactly this for two AI products at Chime Labs: a fake-door test with a decision threshold agreed before the data arrived, which turned ‘should we build this?’ into a question with an answer rather than an argument.

What I actually do

Start with the riskiest assumption, not the roadmap. What has to be true for this to work, and how would you know if it isn't? From there: a landing page with a real signup, a concierge version run manually behind the scenes, a fake door — whatever produces a signal from someone outside the building, in days rather than a quarter.

Once there's real demand, the same practice carries into product strategy and delivery: sequencing what to build against actual capacity, writing down the ‘not now’ list, and shipping the first releasable version myself rather than handing a validated idea off to be rebuilt by someone else.

Good fit if

You have an idea with strong internal conviction and no external evidence. You're a founder-led team without a dedicated product or design hire yet. You have a feature on the roadmap and nobody can say who actually asked for it.

Not a fit if

You need a large build team or ongoing engineering headcount — I'm one senior operator, not a dev shop, and I'll tell you early if that's what you actually need.

Design through to code

The same discipline carries into the build itself. I've been shipping production code with AI for over a year now — not throwaway demos, but work that lands in a real codebase.

There's a process behind it. This isn't vibe-coding a quick app and hoping it holds — everything has to fit what you already have: your infrastructure, your database, your UX, your design system. That's what design and software delivery look like now.

Recent work

A pre-registered demand validation test, run before a line of product code was written:

Chime Labs AI Platform

A Sydney AI startup for trades, backed by 500 Global — including the pre-registered demand validation test that shaped the build before a line of product code was written.

Related services:

Demand Validation & Fake-Door Testing →

Product Roadmap Strategy & Discovery →

FAQ

Isn't a fake door dishonest?

It can be. It doesn't have to be — ‘not available yet, want to be told when it is’ is a real signal and an honest message. There are honest versions of every one of these tests.

How fast can we get a signal?

The design takes longer than the running. A test usually takes one to three weeks end to end, built around a threshold agreed before the result arrives.

What happens after validation?

If the signal is real, the same engagement can carry straight into product strategy and delivery — sequencing what to build first and shipping it, rather than handing a validated idea to someone else to rebuild.

Can you build it, not just validate it?

Yes — once the signal is real I can take it from validated idea to shipped, production code myself, built with AI and fitted to your existing infrastructure and team rather than handed off as a disconnected prototype.

Tell me what you’re building. I’ll tell you if I can help.

Email me →