Why “We’ll Figure It Out Later” Is the Most Expensive Phrase in Tech

Remember Quibi, the mobile streaming platform that launched in 2020 with $1.75 billion in funding?

It had everything: A-list backers, star-studded content, cutting-edge tech. And yet, just nine months later, it shut down. The issue wasn’t execution, it was direction. The team never truly validated whether users wanted what they were building. They skipped the most important step: understanding the problem before solving it.

That’s why we’ll never shut up about The Concept Phase and why it’s a phase we ask our pre-build clients to work through with us. 

Why Every Great Product Starts With A Concept Phase

Most startups sprint into development before clearly defining what they’re building or why. It’s like starting construction on a house without blueprints—you’ll end up with something, but it might not be what you had in mind and it might not be stable. 

That rush to build is one of the biggest reasons projects fail. Without a solid foundation, teams run into endless revisions and scope creep, budgets that balloon, and timelines that slip. You also risk creating a product that misses the mark with users and having the dreaded “we need to rebuild from scratch” conversation.

Every founder knows planning matters. But in the race to ship, many underestimate how much clarity early on determines everything that follows. The Concept Phase—a structured, collaborative period of strategy and discovery—is where that clarity gets built.

Don’t Build Before You Understand

Momentum is intoxicating, especially in early-stage startups. You’ve got an idea, some funding, maybe a team—and someone tells you, “Sure, we can build that.” It’s tempting to start coding right away.

But skipping discovery is where most products go sideways.

When teams don’t pause to validate goals, market fit, and success criteria, they end up building the wrong thing really efficiently. Click To Tweet
Maybe it looks great, but it doesn’t convert. Maybe it’s technically impressive but solves the wrong problem. That’s why we always recommend that founders resist that urge to build first and instead invest in structured discovery. 

So, What Is a Concept Phase?

The Concept Phase is a 2–8 week window designed to answer key questions before development begins. This is the phase where you’re creating alignment across business, design, and engineering.

We recommend using this time to focus on four core questions:

• What problem are we actually solving?

• Who are we solving it for?

• What does success look like—in measurable terms?

• How should this system evolve over time?

What Happens During the Concept Phase

1. Start With the Business, Not the Feature List

Too many teams start with, “What features should we build?” A better question is, “What outcome are we trying to achieve?”

We recommend beginning with discovery that looks at the business model and market context before writing a single user story. That typically includes

• Competitor and trend analysis
• User research and needs assessment
• Revenue and pricing model validation
• Identifying key differentiators and positioning

This is where many founders discover that the feature they thought was essential isn’t what customers actually value most – good thing you double checked! That kind of insight, caught early, can change the entire trajectory of a product.

2. Define a Minimum Viable Sellable Product

Most teams talk about MVPs—Minimum Viable Products. We recommend thinking in terms of MVSPs—Minimum Viable Sellable Products.

An MVSP is market-ready. The goal is to launch something small but meaningful, something that customers will actually pay for or adopt enthusiastically.

That means focusing on features that solve a validated, high-value problem, deliver a complete user experience (not a prototype in disguise), and support early monetization or traction. A good MVSP will also lay the groundwork for future growth.

This approach helps avoid the “it works, but nobody wants it” outcome that sinks so many launches.

3. Prototype Before You Code

We also recommend investing in a clickable prototype before writing a single line of production code. Tools like Figma make it possible to visualize the full user experience quickly and affordably.

A prototype allows you to test assumptions with real users and validate user flows and navigation. They also align stakeholders before development begins and catch issues early, when they’re cheap to fix.

In our experience, every insight gathered in the prototyping stage can save thousands of dollars later. It’s the simplest, smartest form of insurance you can buy for your build.

4. Translate Vision Into Technical Reality

Once the business goals and user experience are clear, it’s time to figure out how the product should be built.

We recommend defining:

• The system architecture and data models
• API and integration requirements
• Security, compliance, and scalability standards

These aren’t just engineering decisions; they’re business decisions. The wrong architectural call can double costs or limit flexibility down the road. The Concept Phase is where you make those trade-offs intentionally, not reactively.

5. Define Success Before You Start

Finally, teams should decide what “done” really means—together.

We recommend documenting functional requirements for each feature as well as performance and reliability targets. We also recommend defining timeline and budget constraints and post-launch metrics and adoption goals.

Agreeing on success criteria upfront keeps everyone—from founders to investors to engineers—aligned on outcomes instead of outputs.

Why This Work Pays Off

Planning sometimes feels like a slowdown, but data says otherwise.

A well-cited study found that fixing a requirement issue after development begins costs up to 100x more than fixing it early. Catching those misalignments in the Concept Phase eliminates that multiplier.

Beyond cost savings, this phase builds alignment. When everyone shares the same understanding of what’s being built and why, development moves faster, decisions get easier, and launches hit closer to the mark.

Make It Collaborative

Discovery shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. We recommend a collaborative approach that includes both business and technical voices from the start.

Founders bring domain expertise and vision. Designers bring user empathy. Engineers bring practical constraints and system thinking. Together, those perspectives produce better answers and fewer surprises.

This “do it with you” model works far better than a one-directional handoff. It keeps everyone accountable and invested in building the right thing, not just the thing that was easiest to specify.

The Bigger Idea

The Concept Phase isn’t about adding another step to the process or overcomplicating things. It’s what builds confidence.

Anyone can start fast. But the teams that pause to validate, prototype, and align are the ones that scale sustainably.

So whether you’re working with an agency, hiring your first in-house developer, or planning your next big product launch, the Concept Phase should be non-negotiable.

It’s the best way to avoid wasted effort, keep costs predictable, and build something that truly fits your users and your business.

Because in the end, the goal isn’t to build fast—it’s to build something that lasts.