# Offering Hypothesis — Engineering Management Suite

> Working hypothesis v0.1 (2026-09-12). Every claim here is **to be validated in
> discovery interviews** — see `../02_Work/DISCOVERY_INTERVIEW_GUIDE.md`.
> Update this file when evidence arrives; do not let it drift from reality.

## What we sell (one sentence)

A tailored engineering-management operating system for small engineering firms:
their processes, their past projects, their people — with AI that drafts the
documents in their voice and a program that grows their team's capability.

## The three-tier packaging

### Tier 1 — Foundation Install (fixed fee: $8k–$15k hypothesis)

**Outcome:** a working, tailored management system baseline in ~4 weeks.

Deliverables:
1. Toolkit deployed (standards library, PM process, SBS generator, role/capability framework).
2. Tailoring workshop: map their project types, past deliverables, capability gaps.
3. Management-system baseline pack: process maps, role requirements, standard templates — drafted by AI from their own previous projects, reviewed with their leads.
4. Capability assessment report with a 12-month development plan.

### Tier 2 — Managed Operating System (monthly: $1k–$2.5k hypothesis)

**Outcome:** the system keeps working and keeps producing.

- Ongoing tailoring as new project types appear.
- AI draft generation from their accumulating project corpus (plans, proposals, reports).
- Quarterly process audit + improvement register.
- Team capability tracking against the development plan.

### Tier 3 — Capability Program (per cohort)

**Outcome:** measurably more capable team.

- Cohort-based training built on the Leadership builder + engineering standards.
- Coaching for emerging leads; role-requirement-based progression paths.

## What the AI tailoring actually does (the differentiator)

- Ingests the client's **own** past deliverables (proposals, plans, reports, standards).
- Generates drafts in their house style: new project plans, proposal sections,
  role requirements, standards updates — grounded in what the firm has actually done.
- Human (you) reviews and coaches; the client's seniors approve.

This is the moat: generic AI has no governance spine; enterprise vendors have no
SME pricing; consultants leave nothing behind.

## Pricing logic to validate

- Anchor on **senior-engineer hours saved** (e.g. "one proposal week saved per month"
  ≈ $4k–$8k of chargeable time for a 30-person firm) — Tier 2 pays for itself.
- Tier 1 must be deliverable in ≤ 80 founder-hours at the low end to protect margin.
- Discount rule: first pilot may go to 50% of list in exchange for case-study rights
  and measured baseline data. Never free — free pilots produce no willingness-to-pay evidence.

## Explicitly NOT in scope (v1)

- Multi-tenant SaaS platform build (only after ≥2 paid pilots prove demand).
- Custom software development for clients.
- Domains outside engineering/engineering-adjacent delivery firms.