We’ve shipped over thirty v1 products for startups and small businesses. Some were seed-stage companies with nothing but a pitch deck. Others were established businesses building their first custom software. The timeline is always aggressive, and the playbook is always the same.
Week 1 is discovery. We map the core user journey, identify the riskiest assumptions, and define what “done” looks like. The output is a one-page scope document and a prioritized feature list. Everything below the line gets cut — ruthlessly.
Weeks 2–3 are foundation. We set up the project infrastructure (repo, CI/CD, staging environment, monitoring), build the data model, and implement authentication. These aren’t exciting, but they’re the foundation everything else builds on. Cutting corners here always costs more later.
Weeks 4–6 are the core build. This is where the product takes shape. We work in two-day cycles: build, demo, adjust. The client sees working software every 48 hours. This tight feedback loop catches misunderstandings early, before they become expensive.
Weeks 7–8 are polish and launch prep. Bug fixes, performance tuning, edge case handling, and launch infrastructure (error tracking, analytics, alerting). We also write a lightweight runbook so the team knows how to operate the product after we hand it off.
The secret isn’t working faster. It’s making fewer decisions. A v1 doesn’t need role-based permissions, internationalization, or a plugin system. It needs to do one thing well enough that real users will pay for it. Everything else is v2.