What should the first paid stage of your AI MVP deliver?

Start with the change you want to make for a user

Describe one person's current task, the difficulty they face and the result your product should make possible. Explain how they solve the problem today. This turns “build an AI platform” into a conversation about a workflow, available information and a useful first release.

Separate what you know from what you assume. You may understand the user's problem while still needing to test whether your data can support a reliable feature. Or the technical approach may be straightforward while the proposed workflow needs feedback from potential users. Those situations call for different first stages.

Choose the stage around the biggest unresolved question

Use the first stage to address the question most likely to change your next decision. Do not commission a proof of concept simply because it is a familiar label. Specify the evidence or usable capability you need at the end.

• Technical feasibility: test a defined capability against representative inputs and agreed failure cases.
• User workflow: build a clickable flow that helps you review the proposed experience with intended users.
• First usable release: implement a narrow end-to-end journey when the main assumptions are already clear.
• Existing prototype: identify what can be retained and what must change before extending it.

Agree the boundary and the review before the price

A useful scope names the user journey, inputs, deliverables and exclusions. It identifies what you must provide, such as access to a data source or someone who can answer domain questions. It also records what will be demonstrated and how you will decide whether the stage is complete.

Keep a separate list of later features. Moving a feature there should not mean losing it; it means preserving the ability to fund the next step with more information. Ask how a new requirement affects the current scope, price and sequence before it becomes development work.

Make ownership and continuity part of the first stage

Clarify where the code lives, who controls service accounts and what documentation is delivered. The ability to continue should not depend on one person's private account or an undocumented demonstration environment. Ask what another developer would need to understand the work.

Indext's founder engagement keeps the code and accounts yours, with weekly demonstrations and a separately agreed scope and price for each stage. You can review the result before committing to further development. An existing prototype, product revenue or a named investment round is not a prerequisite for discussing the work.

Bring a short brief to the first conversation

Our first conversation is a free 20–30 minute call. We then provide a written scope and fixed price for stage one within two business days. First stages start from $5,000; the full product budget depends on the agreed work and later stages. The immediate goal is a first commitment you can understand and evaluate.

• Who will use the product, and what should become easier for them?
• What information, examples or access can you provide?
• What do you need to learn or deliver in the first stage?
• Who approves the scope and funding, and is there a meaningful deadline?