Stop
Stalling.
Start
Proving.
Stop
Stalling.
Start
Proving.
Don’t start
with app
development.
Start with
evidence.
Don’t start
with app
development.
Start with
evidence.
The fastest way to waste money on software is to turn an untested idea into a large feature list and ask developers to build it.
Before we talk about architecture, screens or development estimates, we want to understand the problem, the market and the assumptions your idea depends on.
The goal is not to start development quickly. The goal is to reach useful evidence quickly.
When the opportunity earns it, we turn that evidence into a launch-ready first release — without asking you to fund the full enterprise vision on day one.
The Pilot Light Model
Four stages.
Two green lights.
One decision at a time.
Four stages.
Two green lights.
One decision at a time.
The investment increases as the uncertainty decreases.
Each stage is a defined, bounded commitment. At every gate, you decide — with the evidence in front of you — whether the next stage has been earned.
Where You Are Now
Where are you
right now?
Where are you
right now?
These are chapters in a founder journey, not a services catalogue.
Real Product Proof
Real problems.
Real products.
Real problems.
Real products.
Different industries. Different users. The same principle: understand the problem before committing to the solution.
Release 1
The idea has
earned its first
real release.
The idea has
earned its first
real release.
By the time we reach Release 1, we should understand far more about the problem, the customer, the proposition and what the first product actually needs to prove.
That doesn’t remove risk. It removes a large amount of avoidable uncertainty before the biggest software investment begins.
Built fast.
Not built to
throw away.
Built fast.
Not built to
throw away.
Release 1 uses rapid-development technology where it makes commercial sense. That does not mean deliberately creating a technological dead end.
You aren’t
renting
software.
You’re buying
an asset.
You aren’t
renting
software.
You’re buying
an asset.
Launch with Pilot Light.
Scale with anyone.
Including us.
Launch with Pilot Light.
Scale with anyone.
Including us.
Source Code
Flutter or React
The complete product codebase. Take it to any developer on earth.
Design Files
Figma
Every screen, every flow, every pixel. Your brand, your product.
IP Transfer
Full legal ownership
Legal proof that everything we built belongs to you. No ambiguity, no exceptions.
Paul Gregg
Principal Product Strategist
I didn’t build
Pilot Light
to become
a big agency.
I didn’t build
Pilot Light
to become
a big agency.
I’ve spent years around software projects where the conversation moves far too quickly from idea to features, estimates and development.
The agency’s incentive is usually to build. The founder’s risk is that nobody stops long enough to ask whether the product deserves that investment yet.
My job is not to convince you to build more software. It is to help you make better product decisions. Sometimes that means building. Sometimes it means doing more work first. Occasionally it means deciding not to build at all.
Good product decisions matter more than big development budgets.
Founder-Led by Design
Deliberately
small.
Directly
involved.
Deliberately
small.
Directly
involved.
I deliberately keep Pilot Light small.
I lead every founder engagement personally and generally work with only three or four active founder projects at a time.
That gives me the space to understand your business, challenge assumptions, stay involved in the important product decisions and bring the right specialist resources into the engagement when they’re needed.
You aren’t passed downstream. I bring the downstream resources to you.
We’ll do our part.
You still have
to founder.
We’ll do our part.
You still have
to founder.
Pilot Light can bring product experience, structure, design, technology, engineering and specialist resources.
What we cannot supply is your conviction, your access to the market or your willingness to do the work required to test the idea properly.
We do not need you to prove your idea is right.
We need to see
that you’re
prepared
to find out.
We need to see
that you’re
prepared
to find out.
The Primary Offer
Bring the idea.
Leave with
the next
90 days.
Bring the idea.
Leave with
the next
90 days.
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.
This is not a sales presentation and it is not a generic startup playbook. We work through your actual idea.
Afterwards, I’ll personally turn that discussion into a practical 30, 60 and 90 day action plan based on where you are today, what still needs to be proven and what needs to happen before the idea is genuinely ready for Release 1.
I put some skin in the game too. You leave with a tailored action plan I’ve prepared for your idea, not a recycled playbook.
Release 1
isn’t the
finish line.
Release 1
isn’t the
finish line.
Pilot Light Studio
Already have
a mature
product?
Already have
a mature
product?
Not every client needs the founder program.
If you already have a live product, customers, established requirements or an internal technical roadmap, Pilot Light Studio provides senior design and engineering capability without forcing you through an early-stage validation process you no longer need.
You know
the problem.
Let’s work out
what it
deserves.
You know
the problem.
Let’s work out
what it
deserves.