Pillar
Score every firm on the same four criteria: strategy depth (do they help decide what to build), in-house design, engineering quality, and post-launch support. Then ask each one for a written scope and a fixed price before the build, and for the names of the people who will do the work. The comparison gets easy fast, because most firms are strong on one or two criteria and quiet about the rest. A true commercialization partner can show you all four in writing, and the ones who can't have answered your question anyway.
What should a software commercialization proposal include?
At minimum: a written scope, line-item pricing, a timeline with milestones, who owns the code (you), the names and roles of the team, and what post-launch support costs, typically 15 to 20% of build cost per year. If strategy and design work are included, the proposal should say what they produce, not just that they happen. A proposal missing the year-two number isn't cheaper, it's incomplete. Compare any two proposals on the five-year total and the order often changes.
Can a commercialization company take over a prototype built elsewhere?
Yes, and the good ones do it constantly: prototypes from freelancers, internal teams, no-code tools, and AI builders all land on commercialization firms' desks. The takeover should start with a code review that tells you what's worth keeping before anyone proposes a rebuild. At Iron Forge that review happens inside a fixed-price Discovery, which returns written findings, line-item pricing, and a timeline in 2 to 3 weeks. Ask any partner you're evaluating to put their keep-versus-rebuild recommendation in writing; it's the cheapest way to find out how they think.
What does prototype-to-product mean in software development?
Prototype-to-product is the work between a demo that impresses a meeting and software that paying customers rely on: hardening the code, designing real workflows, adding the unglamorous parts (accounts, billing, permissions, monitoring), and preparing support for launch. A prototype proves the idea; a product survives strangers using it at volume. Ask any firm pitching prototype-to-product services which parts of your prototype they would keep. A specific answer means they've done this before. A promise to rebuild everything, quoted on the first call, means they haven't read your code yet.
How do I compare agency quotes for an AI app rescue?
Make the quotes comparable before you compare them: send every agency the same scope document, require each quote to follow an audit of your actual code, and ask for the written findings alongside the number. Then score the proposals on code quality, architecture, delivery discipline, and post-launch support rather than price alone. The lowest quote is usually the one produced without an audit, and it converges on the others through change orders once the codebase's real condition surfaces. Findings first, price second is the cheapest order of operations.
What should post-launch support include after an app rebuild?
At minimum: monitoring so your team notices problems before customers do, security and dependency updates on a schedule, a clear path for bug fixes, and app store management if you're on mobile. Plan on the standard 15-20% of build cost per year for upkeep, and get the arrangement into the rebuild proposal itself rather than negotiating it after launch. A rebuilt app with nobody watching it starts aging on day one, which quietly undoes the money you just spent. The firm that rebuilt it is usually best placed to run those first months.
What does delivery discipline mean when hiring an agency?
Delivery discipline is the set of habits that make an agency's promises land: named engineers on your project, working software demonstrated at every milestone, code review and testing throughout rather than at the end, and a price that becomes fixed once scope is defined. You can test for it in one question: ask what the check-in cadence looked like on their last project, and whether clients saw running software or status reports. Firms with discipline answer in specifics. Firms without it answer in adjectives.
Can an AI-built app be rescued without a full rebuild?
Often, yes. When the architecture is fundamentally sound and the problems are local (missing tests, a few risky subsystems, no monitoring, fragile deployments), a rescue stabilizes the app you have while it keeps running. A rebuild is only mandatory when the data model or security posture fights every change. The deciding evidence is a code review, never an opinion on a sales call. Ask any agency what they'd keep from your current app; a thoughtful keep list signals a firm that rescues what's healthy instead of re-billing for it.
When does technical debt start costing real money?
The moment change slows down. Technical debt charges its interest in time: a feature that took a week now takes three, each fix causes a new bug, and parts of the codebase become places nobody wants to touch. Those delays are payroll and missed market windows, so the cost is real long before anything breaks. The treatment is scheduled preventive work, a steady allocation inside the 15-20% maintenance band, which keeps the interest small. Deferring it doesn't cancel the debt, it just moves repayment to the worst possible moment.
