Product strategy and MVP scope, before anyone writes code
I work with founders and teams on the product decisions that come before the build: which problem it solves, what the first version must prove, what to leave out, how to explain it, and how it reaches its first users.
For founders and teams shaping a real market problem into a product.
The first version needs all of these features.
The first version needs to prove one thing.
Everything else waits for evidence.This usually fits when
- The feature list keeps growing and the launch date keeps moving.
- You are about to hire developers and the scope is still a long document.
- The idea comes from a problem you know well, and you are unsure how to turn it into a product.
- A first version launched, and nobody used it the way you expected.
The decisions before the build
- The problem. Who has it, how often, and what they do about it today.
- What the first version must prove. One question the market can answer quickly.
- What to cut. Features that can wait until there is evidence they are needed.
- How it is told. The product's positioning and story, in words a first user understands.
- How it reaches the market. The first users, the channel, and how their feedback comes back.
How Content Radar started
Every content and SEO project I ran began with the same manual job: checking what competitors published and changed, across open tabs and spreadsheets. That repeated problem became a product brief, the brief became a first version, and the first version became Content Radar, a live product for monitoring what competitors publish and sell. I created it and took it from problem to product.
When it is time to build
This service is the strategy and the product thinking. When your product needs a full technical team, Venture Scalor, which I run with my partner Amr Nabeel, builds it through its Build Lane, with sprints, fixed milestones and full client ownership. You can also take the decisions to your own developers.
A product made this way
Content Radar is the worked example, and Venture Scalor is where client products are built.
- Content RadarCompetitor monitoring for content and product changes, created by me.
- Venture ScalorCustom software for client products that need a technical team.
Questions before hiring
Do you build the product yourself?
The strategy and scope are what I work on with you. Building a client product with a full technical team is Venture Scalor's job.
Can you help test an idea before we build?
Yes. Deciding what the first version must prove, and how to test it cheaply, is the core of this service.
What stage should we be at?
Anywhere from a clear problem with no product yet to a first version that needs a sharper focus.