📌 Founder Priorities
📌

Founder Priorities

Let’s refine the priorities together based on your input

You are absolutely right: Industrial 4.0 buying behaviour is not like SaaS — many customers won’t commit without proof, blueprints, templates, architecture, or some form of working demo.

So “BD engine before Product” is not realistic in your context.

Your BD team cannot sell pure PowerPoint.

They need foundational product assets to make BD repeatable.

Let’s reason this through step by step, collaboratively.

1) What BD actually needs in an Industrial 4.0 business

BD for manufacturing does NOT need a finished product.

BD needs:

  1. Reference architectures

  2. Solution Kits & Templates

  3. Demo environments (Digital Factory)

  4. Standard BOM/Price packages

  5. Clear delivery playbook

  6. Confidence that the system can be delivered quickly and reliably

This means your statement is correct:

“I can’t create BD engine without Product Development.”

BD engine = repeatable selling

Product Development in your business = repeatable delivery patterns, not a software product

What Appomax is building is a platform assembly layer, not a traditional product.

This is even more reason why “IP-first” is required.

2) What this means for prioritisation

Let’s adjust the priority model:

Old assumption:

BD → Delivery → Product (long-term)

Correct model in Industrial Digital Platforms:

Product Foundations → BD Engine → Delivery Efficiency

Because:

  • BD can’t convert if they can’t SHOW anything

  • Delivery can’t scale without reusable kits

  • Investor narrative becomes much stronger with IP foundations

So we restructure priorities:

3) Priority #1 — Build Product Foundations (not full product)

This matches what you said:

“We aren’t developing products per se, more like assembling platforms, softwares, and hosting.”

Correct.

So we define Product Foundations = reusable IP + templates + architecture + demos.

Not a complete product.

Not full SaaS.

Just the 20% that lets everything else exist.

Product Foundations include:

  1. Unified Namespace Model (ISA-95 model + templates)

  2. MES Starter Kit (OEE, Andon, basic traceability)

  3. EMS Starter Kit

  4. Connector Pack (OPC, MQTT, N3uron, Ignition)

  5. Standard Ignition Project Skeleton

  6. Cloud IaC templates (PaaS)

  7. Demo Factory Environment (Cloud + Edge)

With these 7 items:

  • BD can sell with confidence

  • Delivery improves instantly

  • Support becomes easier

  • IP accumulation begins

  • The fundraising story is much stronger

This aligns 100% with the nature of your business.

4) Priority #2 — Build BD Enablement (AFTER foundations exist)

BD engine is not slides or training.

BD engine = Enablement tools based on real IP:

  • Demo Factory

  • Template BOMs

  • Standard Solution Packages

  • Product one-pagers

  • Repeatable delivery estimates

  • Case studies from actual deployments using the Kits

BD engine cannot exist unless “Product Foundations” are real.

You were right.

5) Priority #3 — Delivery Stabilisation using Product Foundations

Once the Kits exist:

  • Delivery time drops 20–40%

  • Firefighting decreases

  • PMs can enforce process

  • Engineers stop reinventing

  • Apex becomes more profitable

  • Your time is freed from operational issues

This is exactly the long-term fix you’re aiming for.

6) Priority #4 — Fundraising + Hiring

You can’t pitch to investors properly until:

  1. You have IP foundations

  2. You have a Product Roadmap

  3. You have evidence of leverage (Kits used in projects)

  4. You can show high-margin recurring potential

This means fundraising should start in parallel, but not before the foundations.

7) Revised Priority Framework (based on your input)

1. Build Product Foundations (Next 6–8 weeks)

Done by:

  • SA

  • DevOps

  • Senior Dev

  • (Borrow Wasan & Apex team part-time)

This gives you:

  • Demo factory

  • Starter kits

  • Engineering templates

  • Cloud automation

  • Sales confidence

This step unlocks BD & Delivery.

2. Build BD Engine (Month 2–6)

BUT with these assets:

  • Architecture blueprint

  • Starter kits

  • Demo factory

  • Clear pricing packages

  • Delivery playbook

BD engine will become real because it has real weapons.

3. Stabilise Delivery (Month 2–12)

Using:

  • Kits

  • Templates

  • Governance (PM rules)

  • Standard architecture

Your involvement drops dramatically.

4. Raise Fund (Month 4–12, prepare early, close later)

Once:

  • You have IP foundations

  • You have improved BD conversion

  • You have a clear R&D roadmap

  • You know exactly what team you need to hire

5. Build a Dedicated Product Team (After funding or partially before)

To expand MES, CMMS, PdM, Analytics, etc.

8) Your actual question:

“What do you think are my priorities and action plans?”

Here is the short, practical founder version:

Your Top 4 Founder Priorities NOW (Realistic & Based on Your Input)

1) Build Product Foundations (non-negotiable)

This is how you stop being pulled into BD and Delivery problems.

2) Delegate BD but give them fundamental tools (after foundations exist)

BD cannot convert without:

  • Kits

  • Templates

  • Demo

  • Architectures

  • Standard packages

    So create those first.

3) Delivery Stabilisation using Governance + Templates

Remove yourself from firefighting by giving the team:

  • Standard architecture

  • PM authority

  • Solution Kits

  • Clear escalation rules

4) Fundraising & HR (parallel, low time but high leverage)

Prepare but don’t push until foundations exist.

9) What you should do next (Action Plan in 14 Days)

Week 1:

  • Define Product Foundations (scope 6–8 weeks)

  • Assign owners to each foundation block

  • Create Demo Factory 1.0 plan

  • Create standard architecture diagram sets

Week 2:

  • Create MES Starter kit specifications

  • Create Energy Starter kit specifications

  • Build standard proposal templates

  • Draft BD one-pagers

After that, BD & Delivery efficiency will improve immediately.