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Ship It Live · discovery sprint
Know exactly what to build, in 5 days.
For the answer that is honestly 'I do not know yet'. Five days to decide what you are building, what it costs and what you are deliberately leaving out — before anyone writes code.
Schedule a callQuick answer
Product discovery takes 5 days and costs a fixed $700: two working sessions, a written scope covering what v1 does and what it does not, flows for the journeys that matter, a build plan and a fixed quote. The $700 comes off the build if you book it within 30 days.
By Shaheer Malik · Updated
The plan
Product discovery in 5 days: the day-by-day plan
Day one to day 5, written down.
You get this schedule before you commit, not after. If a phase slips, that is mine to absorb — the price and the date were agreed before anything started.
- 1
Day 1
Session one
What the product is for, who it is for, and what has to be true for it to be worth building. Recorded, so nothing depends on anyone's memory of the call.
- 2
Days 2–3
Scope and flows
v1 written down and the three journeys that matter drawn out, with the cut list kept visible rather than quietly dropped.
- 3
Day 4
Session two
We go through the scope together and argue about the cut list. This is the session that saves the money.
- 4
Day 5
Plan and quote
The build plan, the sequence, the risks named honestly, and a fixed quote — all in a document that is yours regardless of what you do next.
What $700 gets you
What's included in product discovery for $700
Everything needed to launch — nothing padding the invoice.
Who books this
Who product discovery in 5 days is for
Built for
Founders with an idea and no clear picture of what v1 contains
Teams whose scope has quietly grown until nobody can price it
Anyone who has been quoted wildly different numbers for the same brief
Real situations
Why teams book product discovery
Five ways this shows up, and what actually fixes it.
Not hypothetical — the shape of the problem before someone books this sprint, and the specific part of the build that resolves it.
Situation 1
An idea that has never been written down
A founder has been carrying a product in their head for months, explaining it differently every time, and every quote they get back is priced against a different understanding of it.
Five days produces a written scope that says what v1 does and, harder, what it does not — so every quote after it is priced against the same thing.
Situation 2
Scope that grew until nobody could price it
A project has accumulated features through conversation until the build is too large to estimate, and each new idea makes the start date recede further.
Discovery separates v1 from everything that can wait, which is usually the difference between a project that starts this month and one that never starts.
Situation 3
Quotes that range by a factor of five
A business has three proposals for the same product that differ enormously in price, and no way to tell whether the cheap one is missing something or the expensive one is padded.
A written scope with real flows makes the quotes comparable, because everyone is finally pricing the same build.
Situation 4
A build about to start on an undecided product
A team is ready to start building something whose core behaviour has not actually been agreed, and the decisions will get made mid-build by whoever is holding the keyboard.
The expensive place to decide what a product is, is halfway through building it. Five days up front is the cheapest version of that conversation.
Situation 5
Needing a real number before committing
A founder cannot commit to a 30-day build without knowing what it will contain, but cannot get a firm price without defining it — and is stuck in the loop.
This sprint ends with a fixed quote on the published ladder, and the $700 comes off it if the build is booked within 30 days.
The honest part
When product discovery in 5 days is the wrong choice
When 5 days is the wrong answer.
A fixed deadline only works when the scope genuinely fits inside it. These are the cases where I will tell you so rather than take the booking.
Projects where the scope is already clear. You do not need this, and I will say so rather than sell it to you.
Market research or user interviews. This is product scoping, not validation — if you need to know whether anyone wants it, that is different work and someone else does it better.
Products that need a technical feasibility study — hardware, regulated finance, anything where the answer is a research project rather than a scoping one.
Inside the 5 days
- Two working sessions on what the product is actually for
- A written scope: what v1 does, and the harder list of what it does not
- Flows for the three journeys that matter, drawn rather than described
- A build plan with the real sequence and the real risks
- A fixed quote for the build, on the published ladder
- A recommendation on what to cut, in writing
- Everything is yours whether or not you build it with me
- The $700 comes off the build if you book within 30 days
Quoted as one number before day one. A week running long is mine to absorb.
Outside the line
- Projects where the scope is already clear. You do not need this, and I will say so rather than sell it to you.
- Market research or user interviews. This is product scoping, not validation — if you need to know whether anyone wants it, that is different work and someone else does it better.
- Products that need a technical feasibility study — hardware, regulated finance, anything where the answer is a research project rather than a scoping one.
Real work, sized and priced separately. You hear it before you book, not at handover.
What it costs
How much does product discovery cost?
On this sprint, product discovery costs a fixed $700 for 5 days of work. The price and the schedule are agreed in writing before anything starts, and the price does not move if the work takes me longer than planned. It covers all 8 items listed under what's included.
In the price
- Everything in the list of what's included
- The 5-day schedule, written down before you commit
- Changes inside the agreed scope
Paid separately, directly by you
- New scope added after the plan is agreed, priced in writing before work on it starts
Fixed price, hourly or a monthly retainer
| Compare | This sprint | Hourly | Monthly retainer |
|---|---|---|---|
| When you know the total | Before work starts | When the work is done | Month by month |
| If it takes longer than planned | I absorb it | You pay for the extra hours | You pay for the extra months |
| A change of scope | Priced in writing first | More hours on the invoice | Added to the queue |
Why I price this way, and when it is the wrong model, is on no hourly rates, and what happens from first message to launch is on how it works.
Where this sits on the price list
- Every sprint is priced on one published ladder: $700 for 5-day sprints, from $1,999 for 14- and 21-day builds, and from $2,500 for 30-day apps. Every price is on pricing.
- After launch, the monthly partnership covers a steady stream of changes for $2,500 a month, and you can pause it.
- For a bigger or different build, the project cost calculator and the MVP timeline estimator give a first number in a minute.
Questions
Product discovery: your questions answered
Before you book
A written scope of v1, flows for the three journeys that matter, a build plan with the risks named, and a fixed quote. All of it is yours whether or not you build with me.
No. The documents are yours, and their main value is that other quotes become comparable, because everyone is finally pricing the same build.
Yes, in full, if you book a build sprint within 30 days. That is deliberate: discovery should be a de-risked first step, not an extra cost.
You can, and if your scope is already decided you should. This exists for the case where it is not, because deciding what a product is halfway through building it is the most expensive version of that conversation.
Not honestly, which is why this sprint exists. Anyone quoting a firm number for an undefined product is either padding it or about to discover they underpriced it.
Then I will say so on day five, in writing, and you will have spent $700 instead of $2,500 and a month finding out.
Decide what v1 is before anyone builds it
A 5-day discovery sprint ships two working sessions, a written v1 scope with what it leaves out, flows for the three journeys that matter, a build plan with the risks named, and a fixed quote. Fixed price: $700, credited against the build if you book within 30 days.
| In scope | Out of scope |
|---|---|
| A written scope, including what v1 does not do | Market research or user interviews |
| Flows for the three journeys that matter | Technical feasibility studies, such as hardware or regulated finance |
| A build plan and a fixed quote on the published ladder | Projects whose scope is already clear |
Design and handoff bar
- The scope names what v1 leaves out, not only what it includes
- Each of the three key journeys is drawn, not described
- The build plan names its biggest risks
- The quote is a fixed number on the published ladder
- Every document is yours, whoever builds it
Soft planning rule (not an SLA): lock the primary job early, review edge cases before launch week, and keep accounts and source in your name at handoff.
Extra questions
Who should join the working sessions?
What should I prepare?
What happens on day five?
Related reading
More on product discovery
Other sprints
5 days from now, this could be live.
A 30-minute call decides whether the scope fits. If it doesn't, I'll tell you what would.