Hello! I’d love your honest Feedback on the following: Would startups find value in a service that matches them with handpicked design and development agencies to help launch and scale? ____________________________________________________________________________ Background: I work predominantly with startups and entrepreneurs. I’ve done some consulting to help startups hit the ground running, and more recently, I’ve matched a few startups with the “right” development/design agencies to meet their needs and budget. These opportunities came to me organically and I’m curious to understand if there is a true need in the market for an advisory service like this. Idea: A bespoke approach to matching startups with design and development agencies based on their specific needs, vision, and budget. There would be no cost to the startup as their advisor would make a small commission from agencies on closed projects. No marketplace, no freelancers, just real human advisor interaction, and guidance to find the right agency resources to help startups achieve their goals. Process: Step 1: Unpack your vision, goals, and budget with the startup advisor to create a plan Step 2: Introduction to 2-5 qualified teams that fit within your plan Step 3: Team selection - Launch and grow Feedback: Please share any/all thoughts, comments, or concerns with anything related to this concept. I’d love to get a gauge from this community. Don’t hesitate to DM me if you feel more comfortable sharing your thoughts in private. Please leave and emoji to answer the following: 👍Yes - This sounds great. ❓Maybe - I’d give it a shot. 👎No - This doesn’t sound interesting.

Hello @Cody Benedetto. I had been mulling over this exact idea. I have the system design for it, and have had a lot of that system in production since 2008, re-wrote and released a parallel version in 2018, then was about to do a final version with the pieces you brought up. But my feeling is that there is something big missing in the way you expressed it, though the idea itself is good / necessary. I cannot yet put my finger on what is missing, but I nearly have it. So I would vote

maybe

. I think it might fall apart at step

#1

but that

#2

and

#3

seem pretty obvious.

Hey Donovan! that’s super interesting, glad to hear someone else has thought about this too. Yeah, I’m trying to understand the best way to market/scale something like this in the startup community. My biggest concern is that in theory it sounds great but startups may not want someone to help them find an agency with all the tools and resources out there. A few opps fell into my lap like this but going out and finding clients for a service like this is challenging

I think this is a genuine business problem based on human beings themselves. Does a mime in the forest make a sound if a tree falls on him? It's one of those types of questions. Chicken or the egg, which came first? The original idea that someone requests help with is normally preconditioned by the one who is asking. The agency might come first as a necessity. Only a small portion of clients will be able to express their idea coherently and saliently. There is a need for some percentage of people of a surgeon who gets the idea out of them at all, or kindles in them the ability to even think about the idea. The startup community depending on the number of founders, often uses an agency as a sort of an unlisted co-founder. This is definitely a delicate area that I would love to work on with a collaborator at some point. I have thought a lot about this.

Hey Cody! I like this idea! As an agency owner, I also want to filter clients. Some clients are too hard to work with. IMO, It’s not about budget or needs it’s more about partnership and if we match to work together in a meaningful way.