For founders and AI labs
How to work with me, in three steps
Free review. Fixed scope and price in writing. Then a pilot or a sprint with a written update every week. No retainers to start, no surprises after. The last post of the first thirty days, and the simplest.
Prashant Kumar Singh · · 3 min read
In short
- Step 1: a free review. One task for AI labs (48 hours), one product for founders (a few days).
- Step 2: fixed scope and price, in writing, before any paid work starts.
- Step 3: a ten-task pilot or a $2,000/$3,000 sprint, with a written update every week and one person to message.
Thirty posts in, the process can be said in three steps. This is the page to send to a colleague who asks "so how does working with him go?"
Step 1: free review
AI labs send one task, rubric or test suite and get a written review within 48 hours: where it can be shortcut, where it is ambiguous, what to change. Founders send a product, prototype or idea and get a one-page teardown within a few days: what to fix, what to cut, what to build first. Both are free, need no call, and are yours whether or not anything follows.
Step 2: fixed scope and price, in writing
Before any paid work, a short document states what will be delivered, when, and for how much. For labs: the number of tasks, the domain, the spec, the review process, the report, the price by complexity. For founders: the one flow, the screens, the stack, the deployment, the handover, the fixed price. Anything that comes up later is quoted against this document, never absorbed into it silently.
Step 3: pilot or sprint, with a weekly update
Labs get a ten-task pilot in one week, graded by them, followed by volume if the numbers hold. Founders get a three-week sprint with a clickable prototype in week one, a staging link in week two, and a live product in week three. Both get a written update every Friday: done, next, risks, decisions needed. Both have one person to message, and it is me.
| AI labs | Founders | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Free review | One task, 48 hours | One product, a few days |
| 2. In writing | Tasks, spec, review process, price | Flow, screens, stack, fixed price |
| 3. The work | Ten-task pilot, then volume | $2,000 design or $3,000 MVP sprint |
| Every week | Acceptance, causes, rework, fixes | Done, next, risks, decisions |
The numbers behind it
90% acceptance and a 4.89/5 average quality rating across AI training and evaluation programmes. 22+ products shipped, 98% on the agreed date. The process above is what produced them, which is why it is the process.
What happens next
The next thirty days of posts start on 5 December. Same two readers, new topics, and the same free first step at the end of each one. If you have been reading along and have something to send, this is a good moment.
Questions people ask
- What are the steps to working with you?
- A free review (one task for labs, one product for founders), then a fixed scope and price in writing, then a ten-task pilot or a fixed-price sprint with a written update every week.
- Do you require a retainer?
- No. Work starts with a free review and continues, if you choose, with a priced pilot or a fixed-price sprint. Ongoing support after a sprint is optional and hourly.
- Who will I be talking to?
- Me, throughout. There is no account manager or ticket queue between you and the person doing the work.
If you're a founder
Step one is a message with a link. The teardown comes back within a few days and ends with step two already drafted.
If you run an AI lab or data team
Step one is a task under NDA. The review comes back within 48 hours and tells you whether step two is worth writing.
Sources