Fixed scope, known price, documented decision.
Everything worth knowing before you call: how engagements are contracted, what the non-disclosure agreement protects, how long each phase takes and what we need from you to start.
Contracted by phase, not by the hour.
Each phase has a fixed scope, a deliverable and a price known before it starts. When it closes, you decide whether to continue. There is no retainer, no lock-in, and no phase that depends on having contracted the previous one with us: if you already hold prior art or a sound market study, we enter where appropriate and take it as given.
- Price
- Priced per service and matched to the resources the project requires. A single reference and a full product family do not cost the same and should not be billed the same way.
- Teams
- Each project is assigned an independent team. We do not share a team across projects in the same sector.
- Preliminary analysis
- Before quoting we run a pre-analysis and an initial prior-art search, at no cost. If it shows the project should not proceed, we tell you then.
- Scope
- What is in and what is out of each phase is fixed in writing before signing. A change of scope is a new quotation, not a surprise invoice.
The NDA is signed before you speak.
- Timing
- The non-disclosure agreement is signed at the start of the first meeting, in person or remote, before you describe the project. There is no prior “informal” conversation about the content.
- Ownership
- What you bring remains yours. Ownership of anything generated during the engagement is agreed in writing before work starts and, unless expressly agreed otherwise, belongs to the client.
- Isolation
- Separate teams per project, with no cross-access to documentation from other engagements.
- Publicity
- We publish no client names, figures or images. If we ever wanted to, it would be with specific written authorisation.
Delivery within a reasonable timeframe.
The duration of each phase depends on the size of the project and is fixed in the quotation, not afterwards. A prior-art search on a single reference does not take what a full product family takes, and a pilot run depends on the channel’s calendar, which we do not control.
What is committed in writing is the agreed delivery date for each phase, and immediate notice if anything puts it at risk. A deadline communicated late is worse than a long one.
To make the first meeting worth having.
What it is, what problem it solves and how it differs from what already exists. Sketches or drawings if you have them; finished renders are not required.
Whether a prototype exists, whether there are sales, whether a registration has been applied for or granted, and whether any third party has already seen the development.
Where you intend to sell. Freedom to operate is territorial and it determines the scope of phase 01.
Exactly what you have to decide and by when. That is what determines which phase the engagement enters at.
What people ask before contracting.
Is the first consultation genuinely free?
Yes. The first meeting and the preliminary analysis are not billed, and they include signing the non-disclosure agreement. That is the mechanism we use to decide whether there is an engagement at all: if the pre-analysis indicates the project should not proceed, we say so and there is no proposal.
Can I contract a single phase?
Yes, and that is the most common arrangement. Each phase has its own scope and price and ends in a deliverable that stands on its own. Contracting the next one is a decision taken with the previous result in front of you.
What if I already have the market study or the patent search?
We review it, and if it is sound we take it as given and enter at the following phase. We do not charge to repeat work already done; we will say clearly if we find a gap that affects the decisions further down the line.
Who owns what is developed during the engagement?
Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the client. Ownership is set out in writing in the contract for each phase, before work starts, and is not left until the end.
Do you sign confidentiality before the first meeting?
The agreement is signed at the beginning of that meeting, before you get into the content of the project. If you prefer to sign it in advance, we send it over and that is entirely fine.
Do you work with startups or only established companies?
Both. What determines whether an engagement makes sense is not the size of the organisation but whether there is a physical product to manufacture and an investment decision to take.
What happens if the project turns out not to be viable?
The reasoning is documented and it closes there. That is a legitimate outcome of the engagement and, in economic terms, almost always the best available one: you have spent a phase instead of a set of tooling.
Can you help find funding or an industrial partner?
Yes, once the product is developed and launched. We support the search for an industrial or financial partner and the preparation of funding rounds, drawing on the documentation from the four phases, which is what a technical due diligence asks for.
Tell us where the project stands.
A thirty-minute conversation is enough to establish which phase your development enters at and what it would take to close it. We sign the non-disclosure agreement before you describe anything.