Service 082 of 100

Get a second opinion on your build plan before you hire an agency

The Build Studio at CEOism gives you an honest second opinion on your build plan before you sign with a big agency, at a price you name. You show us the proposal, the quote, or the plan in your head, and we tell you what the thing actually takes: what is genuinely hard, what is padded, what is missing, and what you could ship for a fraction of the number in front of you. We build for a living, with 47 live apps shipped, so we are reading the plan as practitioners, not consultants. You name a fair price for the review, and you leave with a written opinion you can negotiate with, whether or not you ever hire us.

The 60-second version

Before you sign with a big agency, ask us what it actually takes.

We build it for you: before you hire a big agency, let us tell you what it actually takes.

Tell us what it is worth to you. ceoism.com/studio.

What you receive

  • A written, plain-language review of the plan or proposal
  • What is genuinely hard versus what is padded, named specifically
  • The risks and gaps the plan does not mention
  • A realistic alternative scope, with what it would honestly take
  • A follow-up call to argue it through with you

How it works

  1. 1

    Tell us what you need

    One email. Describe the thing in your own words, plain language is perfect, and say the number that feels fair to you.

  2. 2

    We build, you watch it become real

    We reply honestly with what your number gets, then we build. You see the live thing take shape, not a slide about it.

  3. 3

    You name the price

    The price you set is the price. When it ships, it is live on a real domain and it is yours: code, keys, everything.

Honest questions

Will you just pitch yourselves as the alternative?
No. The review stands on its own, and plenty of plans we review should proceed as written, which we say. If we think we could do it better, we say that too, separately and clearly.
Can you review a plan without seeing the agency's proposal?
Yes. Describe what you want built and what you have been told it costs, and we reconstruct what the work actually involves. The proposal helps, but the idea is enough to start.
How is this priced?
You name it, like everything here. A review is small, focused work, so even a modest number usually covers the full written opinion and the call.

Name your price on this.

Tell us what you need and the number that feels fair. We answer honestly with what that number gets.

Not looking to hire anyone? If you have the knack but never had the means, CEOism will hand you a company instead.

Service 082 · three takes

The films we shoot for this one

These are the scripts we actually film, published openly. Plain text is spoken out loud. Anything in the marked panels is for the camera or the screen behind us and is never read aloud. Three takes of the same service, so we can pick the one that fits where the film is going. The first is open below. Open the other two to read them.

Take one · the empathy cutFilm 082 · 25 to 40 seconds

Before you sign the big quote

Opens inside the worry this service answers, and takes its time. Made for someone who already has this problem in mind, so it fits this page and it fits an audience that already knows us.

Direction · do not readOpen on camera.

A quote came back and you have read it four times. Not because it looks wrong. Because you have no way of knowing whether it is right.

You are allowed to ask someone else first. Nobody ever tells you that.

A second opinion on your build plan. We read what you were sent and tell you what that work actually takes, in plain words.

Forward us the proposal. We are at ceoism.com/studio.

Take two · the direct cutFilm 082 · 15 to 25 seconds

Nobody to protect

Opens on a claim or a visible result, with the offer inside the first ten seconds. Built to be shot with a screen recording playing behind you. Made for the feed and for paid placement, where nobody was looking for us.

Read this script
Screen · do not readScreen: a proposal document open beside a plain text review being typed.

If a quote just landed and you cannot tell whether it is fair, this is for you.

A second opinion on your build plan. What is genuinely hard, what is padded, and the risks the plan does not mention.

Screen · do not readScreen: cut to padded line items being marked one by one.

Two people, no agency to protect. Forward us the proposal.

Take three · the standing offerFilm 082 · 15 to 30 seconds

Someone who builds, reading it

Names the service in the first breath instead of hiding it behind a hook, then offers to build it. It puts the barriers on the floor: you name the price, and not knowing how any of it works is our job rather than yours. It also makes the promise most people never get, that we stay with the thing until it is real. Made for someone who has been carrying this idea around for a long time and needs to hear that somebody will actually take it on.

Read this script

A second opinion on your build plan. People who build, reading what you were sent.

We would tell you what is genuinely hard and what is padded, in plain words.

You are allowed to ask. Forwarding the proposal costs you nothing.

Direction · do not readHold the frame.

And we argue it through with you for as long as it takes to be clear.

Our inbox is open, whether or not you ever hire us.

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