Our App Development Program
Our App Development Program
Investment
increases
as uncertainty
decreases.
Investment
increases
as uncertainty
decreases.
You don’t need to fund the entire vision on day one. Pilot Light progressively tests the opportunity, improves the quality of the evidence and increases the investment only when the idea has earned it.
You don’t commit to a long agency roadmap. Each stage should create enough clarity, evidence or value to justify the next investment. Every stage has to earn the next. So do we.
You don’t need to fund the entire vision on day one. Pilot Light progressively tests the opportunity, improves the quality of the evidence and increases the investment only when the idea has earned it.
You don’t commit to a long agency roadmap. Each stage should create enough clarity, evidence or value to justify the next investment. Every stage has to earn the next. So do we.
The Journey
The complete
founder journey.
The complete
founder journey.
Four stages. Each one earns the next. The map below is the definitive view of how Pilot Light works — from the first idea through to real-world evidence and beyond.
01
Invest in the Workshop
The Workshop
Understand the problem, surface the assumptions and decide what a first release must prove.
Decision Question
Do we understand what the idea actually needs to prove?
01
Invest in the Workshop
The Workshop
Understand the problem, surface the assumptions and decide what a first release must prove.
Decision Question
Do we understand what the idea actually needs to prove?
01
Invest in the Workshop
The Workshop
Understand the problem, surface the assumptions and decide what a first release must prove.
Decision Question
Do we understand what the idea actually needs to prove?
02
Invest Your Legwork
• Founder-led
Market Research & Validation
You take the proof of concept to the people who live the problem. We equip the legwork, then read the evidence with you.
Decision Question
Does the evidence support committing production money?
02
Invest Your Legwork
• Founder-led
Market Research & Validation
You take the proof of concept to the people who live the problem. We equip the legwork, then read the evidence with you.
Decision Question
Does the evidence support committing production money?
02
Invest Your Legwork
• Founder-led
Market Research & Validation
You take the proof of concept to the people who live the problem. We equip the legwork, then read the evidence with you.
Decision Question
Does the evidence support committing production money?
03
Invest in Product
Release 1
Build the first production product the evidence has earned, put it in the hands of real users and instrument it to learn from what happens next.
Decision Question
What do real users actually do?
03
Invest in Product
Release 1
Build the first production product the evidence has earned, put it in the hands of real users and instrument it to learn from what happens next.
Decision Question
What do real users actually do?
03
Invest in Product
Release 1
Build the first production product the evidence has earned, put it in the hands of real users and instrument it to learn from what happens next.
Decision Question
What do real users actually do?
04
Invest Where the Evidence Points
Beyond Release 1
Use real-world behaviour to determine whether the next constraint sits in Product & Engineering, Growth, Capital, Company or simply requires more learning.
Decision Question
What has the product genuinely earned next?
04
Invest Where the Evidence Points
Beyond Release 1
Use real-world behaviour to determine whether the next constraint sits in Product & Engineering, Growth, Capital, Company or simply requires more learning.
Decision Question
What has the product genuinely earned next?
04
Invest Where the Evidence Points
Beyond Release 1
Use real-world behaviour to determine whether the next constraint sits in Product & Engineering, Growth, Capital, Company or simply requires more learning.
Decision Question
What has the product genuinely earned next?
Don’t bet
the company
on an assumption.
Don’t bet
the company
on an assumption.
Early Stages
Lower
investment.
Lower
investment.
Higher uncertainty
More assumptions to test
Lower cost of being wrong
Early Stages
Lower
investment.
Lower
investment.
Higher uncertainty
More assumptions to test
Lower cost of being wrong
As evidence accumulates
As evidence accumulates
Later Stages
Higher
investment.
Higher
investment.
Lower uncertainty
Evidence-backed decisions
Higher confidence in spend
Later Stages
Higher
investment.
Higher
investment.
Lower uncertainty
Evidence-backed decisions
Higher confidence in spend
Early Stages
Lower
investment.
Lower
investment.
Higher uncertainty
More assumptions to test
Lower cost of being wrong
As evidence accumulates
Later Stages
Higher
investment.
Higher
investment.
Lower uncertainty
Evidence-backed decisions
Higher confidence in spend
Capital
follows
evidence.
Capital
follows
evidence.
We don’t price the journey — each stage is decided by what you’ve learned. But no stage is open-ended: the Workshop is a fixed commitment, and Release 1 builds to a capped envelope, not a runaway estimate.
Early stages are deliberately small commitments — a fraction of the cost of a build — so finding out is never the expensive part.
Capital
follows
evidence.
Capital
follows
evidence.
We don’t price the journey — each stage is decided by what you’ve learned. But no stage is open-ended: the Workshop is a fixed commitment, and Release 1 builds to a capped envelope, not a runaway estimate.
Early stages are deliberately small commitments — a fraction of the cost of a build — so finding out is never the expensive part.
Where Are You Right Now?
You don’t have
to start at
the beginning.
You don’t have
to start at
the beginning.
Some founders arrive with an idea. Others already have research, designs, prototypes or even a product in market. The first job is to work out what is genuinely known, what is still assumed and where the next useful decision sits.
Not sure
where you fit?
That’s the
first decision.
Not sure
where you fit?
That’s the
first decision.
The Founder Working Session
For selected founders, I set aside dedicated time to unpack the problem, what you have already done, what you believe to be true and where the biggest unknowns still sit.
Afterwards, I’ll turn that into a tailored 30, 60 and 90 day action plan for your specific situation — not a recycled playbook.
Limited capacity. Applications reviewed personally.
The Founder Working Session
For selected founders, I set aside dedicated time to unpack the problem, what you have already done, what you believe to be true and where the biggest unknowns still sit.
Afterwards, I’ll turn that into a tailored 30, 60 and 90 day action plan for your specific situation — not a recycled playbook.
Limited capacity. Applications reviewed personally.