What we look for before taking on a SaaS client

We turn down more projects than we take. Not because we're precious, but because a bad-fit client costs both sides more than the project is worth. Here's the actual filter we run before saying yes.

Do they know what they're solving for?

We work best with founders who can articulate a real problem, even roughly. "We need a website" is not a brief. "Our signup flow loses 60% of users at the pricing step and we don't know why" is a brief. The clearer the problem, the faster and better the work.

If a founder can't yet articulate the problem, that's not disqualifying, but it changes the engagement. We'll start with research and discovery before touching a screen, and we say so up front rather than jumping straight to design.

Is the stage right for the ask?

Our sweet spot is early-stage B2C and B2B SaaS, usually pre-seed to Series A, under 50 people. At that stage, design and UX decisions compound fast because the product is still small enough to change direction cheaply. A company at Series C with an entrenched design system and six product teams needs a different kind of partner than we are.

We also work with D2C and e-commerce brands on a project basis, and that's a different rhythm entirely: shorter, sharper, more execution-focused.

Do they want a partner or a vendor?

The projects that go well are the ones where the client treats us as part of the thinking, not just the output. That means access to real users or data, willingness to make a call when we ask a hard question, and enough trust to push back on a bad idea instead of just building it.

The projects that go badly are usually the ones where every decision gets routed through five stakeholders and nobody owns the final call. We ask about this directly in the first conversation, because it matters more than budget.

Can we point to pricing early?

We don't do vague scoping calls that drag on for weeks. If the brief is clear enough, we'll give a price range in the first proposal. This filters out clients who aren't serious and respects the ones who are.

The honest version

Good client fit isn't about being selective for its own sake. It's about knowing where we add the most value; early-stage teams making high-stakes product and UX decisions with limited internal design resources, who need a partner that moves fast without cutting corners.

If that's you, the first conversation is usually short. If it's not, we'll tell you that too.