Sometimes the growth isn't in the business you have. It's an adjacent new opportunity you haven't built yet.
Many owners who've been in business a while have an idea sitting somewhere they haven't tested — a gap they can see, a product or service adjacent to what they already do. It could be another pillar within what you do, or a venture with exceptional growth potential of its own. Either way, how that gets resourced and tested has changed dramatically — and it's placed established business owners at the centre of a shift that used to belong to startup founders.
It used to take a fundraising cycle and a technical founder, because the real risk was always whether the thing could be built at all. AI has closed most of that gap. What's left isn't a technology problem — it's knowing the market, spotting a genuine gap, and having the discipline to test it properly before committing. That's precisely what an established business owner already has, and a first-time founder usually doesn't.
What's missing is the experience and knowledge to build and test it — rapidly, cost-effectively, and without exposing the whole business to the risk. That's exactly where we specialise.
Here's how we go about it.
First Look
A short, focused piece of work — two hours of discussion and real research, resulting in a written report. It turns a loose idea into a testable proposition: what would need to be true, what's already knowable, what a proper validation would actually involve, and what it would cost.
$2,500, one week.
Most ideas stop here. That's not a failure of the process — it's the process doing its job. A clear no, reached early, is worth having.
Validation
If the idea's worth taking further, Validation is where it gets tested properly. Kill criteria are agreed in writing before any evidence is gathered — so the answer, whichever way it goes, can be trusted. Then real conversations with buyers outside your own network, a proper look at competitors, honest demand testing, and real economics.
$35,000–$45,000, ten weeks.
The outcome is either a documented reason to stop — five figures spent to avoid six, and your focus back where it belongs — or a build plan, a budget, and a structure for the new company.
Build
If it passes, we don't hand it to someone else to run. Derek leads the build directly — scoping what needs to exist first, assembling a small team suited to the job, offshore where it helps without touching quality — through to launch, typically over four to six months, on retainer.
Oktain also takes a small equity position in the new company — agreed upfront, only if the venture proceeds. The fee pays for the work. The equity is what happens if it's right.
Getting started
If you've got an idea you've never quite tested, get in touch and we'll talk it through. A First Look is usually where that starts — $2,500, one week, and a clear answer either way.