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Groundwork · Discovery
After the complimentary fit call, Groundwork is the paid discovery phase. Before anyone commits to an outcome, we find the right one: where to focus, what it is worth, the data and access it needs, and who on your team will own it. You leave with specific, scoped opportunities and the projected value of each, whether or not we build anything together.
Bring one urgent business problem. In 30 minutes, we assess the stakes, decision path, and mutual fit. Detailed recommendations and scoping are delivered through Groundwork.
Why it comes first
We underwrite outcomes, which means we only commit to a result after we have seen the ground truth. Groundwork is how we get there: the paid discovery that turns a vague ambition into specific, fundable opportunities with the value of each projected.
01/Opportunities
We draft specific, fundable opportunities and project the value of each: hours saved, revenue unlocked, or cost and risk avoided. The list is yours to keep, act on with us, or take elsewhere.
02/Access
We confirm, system by system, what access actually exists today and what an outcome would require. No outcome gets underwritten on access we have not inspected.
03/Alignment
We agree on the sponsor who funds the work, the verifier who confirms success, and the internal owner who will steward the capability. The right people are named before anyone commits.
What we bill
Once Groundwork is active, the work that costs you money is live time and required compliance work. Supporting async work is included, so your spend stays predictable.
Bucket one
Working sessions, interviews, and meetings where we are in the room with you. At most two of us are billable in any single meeting, so the cost of a conversation is always predictable.
Bucket two
Security reviews, vendor onboarding, NDAs, and the paperwork your organization requires before access is granted. Necessary work, billed transparently at the same hourly basis.
Included while active
Once Groundwork is active, supporting async work is included and is not time-billed. That keeps spend predictable and the incentives pointed at finding the right outcome.
How billing works
Groundwork begins after you explicitly accept the engagement, including the $1,000 one-time activation fee and the rate card. Live time and required compliance work are billed at role-based hourly rates, prorated to the minute. Supporting async work is included while Groundwork is active. The cap is set up front, so you know the ceiling before any work begins.
The model
Billed hourly for two things only: live time in meetings with your team and the compliance work your organization requires, at role-based hourly rates prorated to the minute. Supporting async analysis and prototyping is included while Groundwork is active. At most two of us are billable in any single meeting.
The cap
A hard monthly cap on metered work, scaled to your organization and agreed up front. The one-time activation fee is separate from that cap. There is no retainer or minimum usage charge. Supporting async work is included while Groundwork is active. Metered work is invoiced at month-end, NET 15.
Sized to your organization
Groundwork is tiered for small business, mid-market, and enterprise. We set your monthly cap with you up front, scaled to your organization.
One-time activation
Groundwork begins when you explicitly accept the engagement, including the $1,000 one-time activation fee and the rate card. The activation establishes a real commitment before we review materials, interview additional stakeholders, estimate work, or develop custom recommendations.
Cadence
Active discovery can drift when the sponsor goes quiet, so we may recommend a sponsor sync when the work needs one. It is optional and billed as live time only if it is held. Any such meeting counts toward the cap on metered work.
The underwriting gate
Before an outcome gets underwritten, four roles have to be named. A real bottleneck, verified data access, and locked success criteria all have to be in place. Groundwork is the work that gets you there.
01
The person who owns the business need and funds the work. Groundwork confirms the sponsor is real and engaged before an outcome is scoped.
02
The client-side verifier who will confirm the outcome against evidence at the close date. Naming them early keeps success defined by your team, not ours.
03
The internal person who will steward the repository, workflow, or method after handoff. Their tacit expertise shapes what we build.
04
The single owner who keeps the outcome moving day to day. Groundwork makes sure there is one, so accountability never diffuses across a committee.
Locked success criteria
The gate also requires one to three success criteria, agreed before any build begins. Groundwork is where we inspect the data so those criteria match operational reality rather than wishful thinking.
See how a Quick Win in a Box worksWhat you keep
Discovery is a deliverable in its own right. Everything below is yours to act on with us, take to another team, or sit on until the timing is right.
A concrete list of fundable outcomes, each with the value it is expected to create. Yours to act on with us or on your own.
A system-by-system record of what access exists and what an outcome would need. Useful well beyond any single engagement.
Agreement on the sponsor, the verifier, and the internal owner. The hardest part of any AI initiative, settled before the build.
Sometimes the most valuable result is a confident no: an honest read on whether an outcome is worth underwriting yet.
Where the build happens
Groundwork delivers the analysis and the plan. The working software, the code, and the transfer of ownership come through a Quick Win in a Box, where the outcome gets built and handed to your team. Anything we prototype in a session is for demonstration and feedback only.
FAQ
Groundwork is the paid AI discovery phase after the complimentary fit call. Before anyone commits to an outcome, we find the right one: where to focus, what it is worth, the data and access it needs, and who on your team will own it. You leave with scoped opportunities, a verified data-access map, and internal alignment, whether or not we build anything together.
After one complimentary 30-minute fit call, Groundwork begins when you explicitly accept the engagement, including the $1,000 one-time activation fee and the rate card. The activation fee is invoiced when Groundwork begins. Live meetings and required compliance work are billed at role-based hourly rates, prorated to the minute. Supporting async analysis, data mapping, prototypes, and write-ups are included while Groundwork is active and are not time-billed. At most two of us are billable in any meeting. Metered work is invoiced at month-end, NET 15.
Yes. The first 30-minute fit call is complimentary. We use it to understand one priority, confirm mutual fit, and decide whether Groundwork is the right next step. Detailed discovery, additional stakeholder interviews, document or system review, estimates, timelines, and custom scoping begin only after Groundwork is activated.
There is a hard monthly cap on metered work, scaled to your organization and set up front, so you know the usage ceiling before any work begins. The one-time activation fee is separate from that cap. Groundwork is tiered for small business, mid-market, and enterprise, and we set your cap with you up front. There is no retainer and no minimum usage charge, so in a quiet month you are billed only for the live time and compliance work that actually happened.
Everything Groundwork produces: a list of scoped opportunities with the projected value of each, a verified data-access map, internal alignment on who owns the work, and a clear go/no-go. You keep all of it whether or not we go on to build anything together. Code and working software are not part of Groundwork. Those, and the transfer of ownership, come through a Quick Win in a Box. Any prototype we show in a session is for demonstration and feedback only.
No. Groundwork produces the thinking: the scoped opportunities, the verified data-access map, and the plan to pursue them. The working software, the code, and the transfer of ownership happen inside a Quick Win in a Box, where the outcome gets built and handed to your team.
When Groundwork has surfaced a specific, high-value outcome and we have cleared the underwriting gate, that outcome can be scoped as a Quick Win in a Box and underwritten. There is no obligation to proceed. The discovery stands on its own.
No meeting is mandatory. When active work would benefit from one, we may recommend a sponsor sync. It is billed as live time only if it is held and counts toward the cap on metered work.
Keep going
Scope a surfaced outcome as a value-based Quick Win, or bring your leadership team to a live build.
We scope a high-value outcome and underwrite it. A verified business result and the custom software you keep.
Value-based
One member's real workflow rebuilt live in front of your group, then everyone builds.
$20,000
Not sure which fits?
Book a complimentary fit call