How long does it take to go from idea to launched product?

A Discovery Sprint runs 1–2 weeks. MVP delivery takes 6 to 10 weeks. Most clients have a live product within 3 months.

Who owns the code and the product?

You do. All source code, designs, documentation, and infrastructure configurations are transferred to you upon delivery.

Do you work on a fixed-price or time-and-materials basis?

Discovery Sprints are always fixed-price. MVP builds are scoped with a fixed estimate after Discovery. Monthly retainers are flat rate.

How to Validate a SaaS Idea Before Spending $35,000

Not every idea deserves an MVP. Here's how to figure out if yours does — before writing a check.

The Three Questions

Before we take on any project at M8 Apps, we ask:

1. Is someone already paying to solve this problem?

If people are paying for spreadsheets, manual processes, consultants, or competitor products to solve this problem — there's a market. If nobody is spending money on this today, you'll need to create demand, which is 10x harder.

2. Can you reach 100 potential customers in 30 days?

Not hypothetical users. Real people you can email, call, or meet. If you can't get 100 people to look at your product in a month, distribution is going to be your bottleneck — not the product itself.

3. Would they pay before you build?

The strongest validation signal is a pre-sale or deposit. Create a landing page, describe the product, and ask for a commitment. If 5-10 people put down a deposit on a product that doesn't exist yet, you have something real.

The Discovery Sprint as Validation

Our $4,500 Discovery Sprint is designed as a validation tool. In 1-2 weeks, you get:

A clear product scope (what to build and what NOT to build)
User flows that show the actual experience
Technical architecture that proves it's feasible
A fixed estimate so you know the real cost

If Discovery reveals the idea needs fundamental changes, you've spent $4,500 instead of $35,000 learning that lesson.

Validation Signals We Look For

Strong signal: Pre-sales, waitlist signups, letter of intent from a customer
Good signal: Paying customers on a manual/scrappy version of the product
Weak signal: "Everyone I talked to said they'd use it" (talking ≠ paying)
No signal: "I think this is a great idea" (your opinion is not data)

When to Skip Validation and Just Build

If you have domain expertise, existing customers, and a clear pain point you've observed for years — skip the surveys and build. Nutricionista.ai was built because the nutritionist had been doing the work manually for a decade. She didn't need a survey. She needed software.

Have an idea worth validating? Let's talk about it.