The furthest I will generally go is black and white mockups in Balsamiq. If the backend is a little more complex, we may begin planning schemas and algorithms, but rarely much further than this.
By secured and signed, I do mean a signed order for a license, to be delivered at a future date, generally with a discount or longer term to compensate for my clients risk. The delivery date, scope, seats, license term and cheque cutting dates are always pre-defined. Quite often, I'll extend a discount for a downpayment so that the company has some instant cashflow.
I didn't practice this in my first startup, but have since. It's not easy, but always worthwhile in the end, and helps accelerate through that awkward early growth stage, and means while development is going on, I can pitch us with a legitimate client backing.
To clarify: I am almost exclusively in B2B software.
By secured and signed, I do mean a signed order for a license, to be delivered at a future date, generally with a discount or longer term to compensate for my clients risk. The delivery date, scope, seats, license term and cheque cutting dates are always pre-defined. Quite often, I'll extend a discount for a downpayment so that the company has some instant cashflow.
I didn't practice this in my first startup, but have since. It's not easy, but always worthwhile in the end, and helps accelerate through that awkward early growth stage, and means while development is going on, I can pitch us with a legitimate client backing.
To clarify: I am almost exclusively in B2B software.