The question
After years and a six-figure budget with an agency, why is there still no product we can launch?
CEO · mental health tech startup
Live with patients
A mental health tech startup spent years and a six-figure budget with a software agency and had nothing launchable. An audit, a rebuilt in-house team and a reset delivery process took it live with patients.
Context
A mental health tech company built around a neurological therapeutic approach that shortens trauma recovery. After several years with an outside software agency and a six-figure budget spent, the product still was not ready for patients.
What we did
- Audited the process, the team and the codebase to find exactly where delivery was breaking down.
- Replaced the agency with a dedicated team: a team lead, two engineers, a UX/UI lead, a UX/UI designer and a DevOps engineer, plus a fractional CMO.
- Moved existing staff into business analyst and product owner roles, so the business side owned what got built.
- Coached the CEO on how software is scoped, built and shipped, so decisions stopped depending on the vendor.
- Delivered a working product and a rebuilt website.
What changed
- Product
- Before: Not launchable after years of agency work
- After: Live and onboarding patients
- Delivery
- Before: Outsourced agency
- After: In-house team of six, plus a fractional CMO
- Business
- Before: No product to sell or report on
- After: Investor and grant milestones met, revenue started
The platform went live and started onboarding patients. The company met its investor and grant targets and began doing business.
Lessons
- If you cannot see working software every few weeks, the agency is managing you, not the project.
- Someone on your side must own the product decisions, or the vendor will make them for you.
- Before replacing a team, audit the process. Often the people are not the problem; the way work is handed over is.