Phase 1

Scope

Every scope decision, side by side. Foundations-first discipline (QA from month 1, CI/CD required week 1) is now the default in both scenarios, not a column that differs — see Tech Stack.

Dimension	Full Pilot	Lean Pilot
E-signature	Build in-house, ESIGN/UETA-compliant	3rd-party integration
Money custody	Direct earnest-money custody (flagged as high-risk — see Full Pilot)	None — referral/redirect only
Pilot geography	2–3 states	1 state
Product focus	Full transaction lifecycle, broadly	Transitional Document + Merchant Integration (two pillars)
Mobile scope	Native apps for all 5 portals (Admin, Broker, Agent, Client, Vendor) — 1 Flutter engineer, in both (flagged risk)
Founder's role	Part-time in both, for now — architecture sign-off, not day-to-day; no longer a scenario difference
DevOps/Platform ownership	Tech lead + founder, no dedicated hire, required from week 1 — same in both
QA timing	Continuous from month 1, alongside foundations — same in both
GTM ownership	Other cofounders, in both
Compliance ownership	Other cofounders, in both — not staffed inside the build team even in the direct-custody path
Multi-tenancy	Row-level tenant isolation from month 1, in both — see Multi-Tenancy
White-label	Architected for (tenant-configurable branding), not activated in Phase 1 — see Multi-Tenancy
Team size (new hires)	4 FTE + 1 project-based, in both — room for 3–4 more within the 8–10 headroom, left open
Team size (total, incl. founder)	7 (6 FTE + founder) + 1 project-based, in both
Timeline	6 months	5 months (4 if smooth)
Est. build-team cost	See Cost → Full Pilot	See Cost → Lean Pilot

GTM and Compliance are owned by other cofounders in both scenarios — not staffed inside the build team anywhere on this site.

The 6-month plan (Full Pilot): what ships, what doesn't

The dimensions above say how the scenarios differ. This is the concrete answer to "what do we actually get in 6 months" for the full-scope plan.

Ships in 6 months

Core transaction workflow (listing → offer → contract → closing) for 2–3 pilot states
In-house ESIGN/UETA-compliant e-signature engine, reviewed by outside counsel
Transitional Document: structured, personalized, gap-detection logic feeding the marketplace
Merchant Integration marketplace: vendor onboarding, real payment processing, commission tracking
Native iOS + Android apps for all 5 portals (Admin, Broker, Agent, Client, Vendor)
Escrow-partner integration (orchestration, not direct custody) for earnest-money tracking
Multi-tenant data architecture supporting multiple brokerages — see Multi-Tenancy
Jurisdiction rules engine covering the 2–3 pilot states' real forms and disclosure timing
Basic Admin/Broker reporting and revenue analytics
Pen test and remediation before pilot launch

Explicitly not this phase

Direct earnest-money custody (self-licensed escrow or broker-trust) — the licensing timeline alone exceeds 6 months, see Full Pilot
White-label branding activated for a partner brokerage — architected for, not turned on, see Multi-Tenancy
MLS/IDX integration — a real competitive gap, not attempted in Phase 1
Expansion beyond the initial 2–3 pilot states
Any LLM-backed client-facing chat or reasoning — the existing assistant stays scripted
SOC 2 or similar formal certification — sound practices in place, not a certification
International markets — domestic US pilot only

Lean Pilot runs the same list minus the items already off the table by design (1 state not 2–3, 3rd-party e-signature not in-house, no custody path to defer) — native mobile for all 5 portals ships in both.