Fintech / HR Tech · Sample case study
A payroll MVP cut down to the one workflow customers pay for
A one-week shaping sprint reduced a long feature wish-list to a single billable workflow, a clickable prototype tested pricing with real prospects, and the production build shipped in nine weeks.
01The challenge
A solo founder with deep domain expertise, a long feature wish-list, limited runway — and no product yet. Every week spent building the wrong thing came straight out of the time available to find customers.
02The strategy
Start by cutting, not building. A one-week shaping sprint reduced the wish-list to the single workflow customers would pay for on day one; everything else moved to a post-revenue roadmap. Validate willingness to pay with a prototype before writing production code.
03The execution
A clickable prototype was in front of target customers by week two and used to test pricing in fifteen interviews. Production development ran in weekly sprints from there, on a stack chosen to scale without a rebuild, and the MVP shipped in week nine.
04The results
- 2
- Weeks from kickoff to a clickable prototype
- 15
- Customer interviews before production code
- 9
- Weeks from kickoff to launch
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