Is this a marketing agency?

No. It is a short, senior sprint where the plan and the test are built with you, for your product. The tactics are chosen for your market and kept small; the goal is proof an investor can check.

How long does it take?

Four weeks: a few hours of strategy, a few hours building the test with you, and a few hours of follow-up and readout while the test runs.

I'm not technical. Is that a problem?

No. Most founders who start here are not. Nathan handles the technical side of the test and checks that your product's technology can carry the growth.

Why would I raise less?

With traction, the raise funds marketing to an offer that already works, not years of building. That is often a smaller number, which means less dilution and a faster close.

How does this fit with Prototype to Production?

Traction first, then production-ready technology. Prototype to Traction proves the offer; Prototype to Production makes the app hold up for the customers that offer brings in.

ServicesPrototype to Traction

Investors don't fund prototypes. They fund traction.

You have the product, the passion and a read on your audience nobody else has. In four weeks, Nathan Biles builds the plan and the test with you to narrow the product, find the right offer and put real traction in front of investors, fast and on a small budget.

The gap

There is a gap between founders and investors. The founder sees the product and the people it is for. The investor asks one question first: where is the traction?

A prototype shows what the product can do. Traction shows that people want it in a form they will sign up for and pay for. That proof is what moves a raise.

Most early products try to do too much for too many people at once. Proof comes faster when the product is narrowed to one audience and one offer, and tested with real people.

Who it is for

Founders with a prototype or an early product, a clear sense of who it is for, and no proven offer yet.
Non-technical founders who built with AI tools or an agency and want the next step to be traction, not more features.
Founders preparing a raise who want numbers in the deck, not only a demo.
Founders who are sure people want it and want the proof an investor can check.

What it covers

A custom plan for your product and your audience: what to narrow, which offer to lead with and how to prove it.
The right test for your market. Tactics vary by founder. One example: a free version of the product with a paid upgrade, such as a quiz whose takers can upgrade to a $30 in-depth report, or a free AI tool that leads to a paid call, then measuring how many of the first 1,000 visitors upgrade.
The test built with you, not handed to you as a report: set up and running under your accounts, kept small and cheap, with a small ad budget and a short survey of the people who respond where they help.
A readout: what the numbers say, which offer to lead with, and how to present the traction to investors.
Right-sizing the raise. With traction in hand, founders often need a smaller raise focused on marketing, closer to $500,000 than $4 million.
A check that the technology can scale when the traction does.

Pricing

One price, agreed in writing before work starts.

Traction Sprint
$3,500
4 weeks, built with you
- A custom plan to narrow the product and choose the offer.
- The test built with you and launched under your accounts.
- A readout with the offer to lead with and the traction for the pitch.
- Right-sizing the raise, and a check that the tech can scale.
- Plus your ad budget, paid directly to the ad platforms, typically $500 to $1,500.

$1,000 of the fee is credited toward your first month of ongoing advisory if you continue within 30 days.

Tell Nathan about your product and who it is for.

Start the sprint Book a call

Nathan reads every message and replies by email.

How it works

Week 1, strategy, a few hours. Nathan Biles works through the product, the audience and the raise with you, and you agree the plan together: what to narrow, the offer and the test.

Week 2, build, a few hours. Nathan builds the test with you and launches it under your own accounts and brand.

Weeks 3 and 4, follow-up and readout, a few hours. The test runs, then the readout: the results, what they mean, the offer to lead with, and how the traction and the size of the raise fit the pitch.

After the readout, the natural next step is ongoing advisory: a weekly session with Nathan through the raise and the launch. When the traction calls for production-ready technology, Prototype to Production follows: traction first, then the tech to carry it.