Operating LiftOperations, systems and growth for owner-run companies

Ways to start

Before You Sign

You're about to commit real money to a software vendor, a development shop or a consultant. Send us their proposal, their presentation and the agreement. In five business days you get a written review from people who have bought, built and run these systems.

Send us the proposalWe'll sign an NDA first if you need one.

What we read

The proposal

Scope, price, timeline, and what it assumes without writing down.

The presentation

What was promised in the room, and whether the proposal commits to it.

The agreement

The milestones and deliverables, how acceptance works, when you pay, and who owns the work and the data when it ends.

What you get back

A written review that marks:

  • what's missing
  • what's overpriced against what the work should cost
  • where the milestones let the vendor get paid before you have something that works
  • the questions to ask before you sign
  • a plain answer on whether to go ahead

Then a 45-minute call to walk through it with you and anyone else who's signing.

Why us

Eric has been on both sides of these documents for more than 30 years, as a CTO buying systems and as an operator living with them after the signature. A milestone schedule reads differently once you've had to make one work.

Good to know

We don't take referral fees from vendors. We won't bid on the work we review unless you ask us to.

Five business days. $2,500. A plain answer on whether to sign.

Send us the proposalIf we find nothing worth changing, you don't pay.