Founding Client: What You Get and What We Ask in Return

DD Pim van den Boomen • 30 July 2026 •5 min

Pillar 05 // Back Office

founding.md

$ diff discount trade

Founding client — what you get and what we ask in return

We're looking for three founding clients. You get three months of management free, a price lock of 24 months, and first place in line when we expand the system. What you don't get is a discount on the build price. That's not a negotiating position but a principle, and below is why. In return we ask for a case study we're allowed to publish. If you don't want that, just buy at the normal terms.

DD DataDrift Digital • 30 July 2026 • 6 min

Founding offers are usually just a discount with a nicer word. This one isn't, and that's deliberate.

Below is exactly what the three spots involve, what we ask back in return, and when you're better off not becoming a founding client at all.

01 / what it isn'tDo I get a discount?

No. The build price is the same for you as it is for client ten.

Those prices are just public: €2,500 for a single process, €4,500 for multiple linked processes, €7,500 for a full system. Excluding VAT. Work outside the agreement costs €125 per hour.

The reason we don't lower those isn't stinginess but arithmetic:

You can't lower a price you've never charged.

If we give you €500 off, our first real invoice is €2,000. From that moment that's our reference point, and client four rightly asks why he's paying more than client one. Then we've undermined ourselves with a gesture that saved you half a day of work.

Want a lower threshold anyway: make the assignment smaller, not the price. One process for €2,500 is a better first step than half a system for €3,150.

02 / what you getSo what is included?

Three things that naturally expire, plus one that costs nothing but is still worth something.

01Three months of management free. Depending on your package that's €885 to €1,785. Management costs €295, €395 or €595 per month after that.

02A price lock of 24 months on management. If we raise the rate, it won't apply to you for two years.

03First place in line once your next bottleneck comes up. With two people and limited capacity, that's not a symbolic promise.

04Direct line. You talk to the two people who build it. No account manager, because we don't have one.

Notice what these four have in common: they expire. After three months you just pay for management, after two years the normal rate applies, and after client three the queue is full. That's exactly why we can give them away without boxing ourselves in.

03 / what we ask backWhat's the trade?

Proof. We don't have client case studies yet, and that's our biggest shortfall.

ASKA publishable case study. What was built, what it delivers, with your company name attached.

ASKAn honest account. Including the parts that didn't go well. Nobody believes a case study without friction, and rightly so.

ASKAccess to real numbers for a demonstration. By agreement, and only what you release.

We make that agreement upfront, not afterward. Asking for a testimonial afterward is asking a favor from someone who's already paid. Upfront it's a trade, and then you're also allowed to say no to it.

Concretely: it's stated in the assignment confirmation, with what may and may not be published. If you'd rather stay anonymous, that's possible — but then the trade is smaller, and the founding benefit should be too.

04 / why threeIs that scarcity real?

Yes, and it's easy to check.

DataDrift consists of two people. Building a system takes two to eight weeks, depending on scope, and the management afterward is manual work as long as the monitoring isn't automated yet.

Three isn't a marketing number then, it's our actual capacity for client one through three. After that the founding offer doesn't disappear because it's "sold out" but because it's done its job: we then have proof, and we no longer need to pay for it.

Being honest about the flip side: client one on the smallest package roughly breaks even for us. That's deliberate. It's acquisition, not charity, so you don't need to feel awkward about it.

05 / who this isn't forWhen should you just buy normally?

In three cases. Then founding isn't an offer but a burden.

You don't want your name attached. Fine — the whole trade falls away then. Just buy a sprint at the normal price, and we're both free.
Your offer isn't settled yet. If what you sell is still going to change in the coming months, you'd be locking in a workflow that won't be right next month. Wait. This advice costs us a client and it's still the right advice.
You're looking for the lowest price. Then that's not us, founding or not. There are cheaper providers and some of them are fine.

If you're still here after these three, the question is simple: which bottleneck costs you the most time right now, and is it worth locking in? That's what the intro call is about. Often the answer is "you can do this yourself" — then we say so, and nothing gets sold.

Frequently asked questions

Do I get a discount as a founding client?+

No. The build price is the same for you as for client ten: €2,500, €4,500 or €7,500 excluding VAT. What you get is three months of management free, a price lock of 24 months, and first place in line. Those three naturally expire; a lowered build price stays our reference forever, and that undermines the price for client four.

What is the founding benefit worth? +

Three months of management is €885 to €1,785, depending on your package. The 24-month price lock is harder to put a number on: it costs us nothing as long as we don't raise rates, and gives you certainty if we do. First place in line is not a symbolic promise when there are only two people with limited capacity.

What do I have to give back for it?+

A case study we're allowed to publish, with your company name: what was built and what it delivers. Plus an honest account, including what didn't go well — nobody believes a case study without friction. And, by agreement, access to real numbers for a demonstration. We lock that in upfront in the assignment confirmation, not afterward as a favor.

Why only three spots?+

Because there are only two of us. Building a system takes two to eight weeks and the management afterward is still manual work. So three is our actual capacity for the first clients, not a scarcity trick. After that the offer doesn't stop because it's sold out, but because we then have proof and no longer need to pay for it.

When is it better not to become a founding client?+

If you don't want your name attached to the case study — then the trade falls away and you're better off just buying at the normal price. If your offer is still changing, because then you'd lock in a workflow that won't be right next month. And if you're looking for the lowest price, because then it's not us anyway.

30 minutes, free, no sales pitch

Want to know if one of the three spots fits you?

Plan a call

We'll look at where your time is leaking and tell you honestly whether we can do something about it. Often the answer is: you can do this yourself. Then we say so, and you've spent thirty minutes getting a clear answer.

→ Plan a call (30 min)

This text was produced with AI assistance and checked and approved for publication by a human.