Deliver solution manually before coding to iterate without technical constraints
After getting presales, deliver the solution as a service manually instead of building a product. Iterate on what customers need by changing your own service routine rather than rewriting code. Once you find the sweet spot where customers are satisfied, then build the product. This separates finding product-market fit (through service) from building the product (engineering).
When to use
When you have paying customers from presales and want to iterate quickly to find exactly what satisfies them before locking into code
Don't do this
Building an MVP immediately after presales, then having to refactor code repeatedly as you learn what customers actually want
3 Founders Who Did This
After getting 5 presales, delivers solution manually to customers and iterates by changing his own routine until customers are satisfied, then builds the product
After getting 5 presales, delivers the solution as a manual service to customers. Iterates by changing his own service routine rather than rewriting code until customers are satisfied
Team delivered survey analysis as manual slide decks, reviewing 2,000+ responses weekly before automating anything