Founder Engine

An MVP, a clickable prototype and a build roadmap — enough to test the idea, show investors, and know what to build next.

The work it retires

A fractional CTO plus a product designer plus a strategy consultant, for the first 4–6 weeks of a startup. Engine Labs is not a co-founder, but it can compress the "should we even build this" phase to days, not weeks.

Inputs

• Your idea, written in plain English (we'll help you tighten it).
• Any existing brand, design or domain assets.
• Whatever you've already built or sketched.
• Who you're building for and what they currently do instead.

Outputs

• A clickable prototype that walks an investor or first user through the core flow.
• A working MVP (or a clear path to one) with the smallest set of features that proves the idea.
• A build roadmap: what to build next, in what order, with rough costs and dependencies.

Typical integrations

Figma, Framer, Webflow, Bubble, Lovable, v0, Cursor, Supabase, Firebase, Vercel, Stripe, Postmark, Resend, Clerk, Auth0.

What's included

• A 30-minute scoping workshop (paid; credited against the final fee if you proceed).
• One clickable prototype (5–10 screens) covering the core flow.
• A functional MVP with auth, one core feature and a lightweight backend.
• A written build roadmap covering the next 3 milestones.
• A handover pack: repo access, deployment notes, deck design, prompt/automation documentation, known limitations.

What's not included

• App store submission or compliance review.
• Production-scale infrastructure, DevOps, or load testing.
• Funding strategy, investor introductions or fundraising support.
• Ongoing product management or co-founder duties.
• Outcome guarantees on investor traction, user growth or product-market fit.

Human review

You own every product decision. Engine Labs builds what's in the scoped SOW; if the build reveals that the idea should change, that's a Change Request, not a unilateral pivot.

Price detail

• Basic (from A$750 AUD): clickable prototype only.
• Standard (from A$3,500 AUD): functional MVP with one core feature + lightweight backend.
• Premium (from A$8,500 AUD): controlled multi-feature MVP with integrations, auth, payments and a documented roadmap.

Price band: from A$750 → A$8,500 (AUD), scoped in the Control Centre.

Typical timeline

2–6 weeks depending on tier.