Prototype strategy
Choose the lowest-cost prototype that can answer the current question, from appearance models and rigs to functional or integrated prototypes.
Why this stage exists
A prototype is not merely a smaller version of the final product. It is an instrument for answering expensive questions cheaply. The right prototype depends on the risk: appearance, ergonomics, fit, software behavior, mechanism, durability, manufacturability, or user response.
This stage creates a test-and-learn loop. Each build has a purpose, each test has an acceptance criterion, and every revision is tied to evidence. The result is a more credible technical story for suppliers, funding partners, and the launch team.
Important boundary: Preliminary regulatory analysis is early pathway and requirements mapping. Formal classification, certification, testing, and compliance determinations must come from qualified specialists, laboratories, authorities, or regulators as applicable.
01 Workstreams
What the team
works through.
Six connected workstreams, sequenced around the evidence and decisions this stage must produce.
Testing
Define methods, conditions, instrumentation, sample sizes, acceptance criteria, and records before results are interpreted.
Design iteration
Translate test results and user observations into controlled design changes rather than informal fixes.
Manufacturing feasibility
Review processes, materials, tolerances, assembly, serviceability, anticipated yield, and scale constraints with production in mind.
Preliminary regulatory analysis
Map likely product classifications, standards, testing needs, labeling questions, and specialist pathways early enough to affect design.
Evidence dossier
Assemble prototype history, test plans, results, photos, deviations, open risks, decisions, and the recommended next build.
Field view
The work behind
Prove.
Inventor Forge keeps the decision, the evidence, and the people doing the work in the same frame.
02 Integrated team
One stage.
Specialist depth.
Wealth Synergy coordinates the program while the operating companies contribute only where their expertise advances the stage.
Wealth Synergy
Sets the proof questions, manages stage-gate decisions, and keeps prototype spending aligned with commercial and funding priorities.
Aurea Engineering
Leads prototype engineering, test planning, technical iteration, design records, DFM review, and preliminary standards mapping.
White Lion
Finds appropriate prototype and low-volume suppliers, obtains quotations, and brings supplier process feedback into feasibility reviews.
Fire Quark
Builds and tests software, firmware, data flows, interfaces, or digital prototypes that are part of the product experience.
Media Phoenix
Supports user-test recruitment, concept presentation, observation, and the translation of feedback into market-facing implications.
Virtuous Virtual Assistants
Coordinates test participants, schedules, records, issue logs, evidence folders, and follow-through across iterations.
03 Tangible output
Deliverables you can
inspect and use.
The exact scope varies by invention. The stage is still expected to end with decision-ready artifacts rather than a collection of meetings.
- A prototype strategy linked to specific risks
- One or more agreed prototype builds
- Test plans with acceptance criteria and documented results
- A controlled revision and issue log
- A manufacturing-feasibility assessment with cost and process implications
- A preliminary regulatory pathway memo and specialist referral list where needed
The exit gateReady for the next stage means…
- The critical proof questions have evidence-backed answers.
- Failures, deviations, and unresolved risks are visible—not hidden in presentation language.
- The design has a credible manufacturing path.
- Likely regulatory or standards obligations are identified for specialist confirmation.
- The team agrees what must be true before supplier tooling or production commitments begin.
What the founder brings
The program works
with you, not around you.
- Access to intended users and real use conditions when possible
- Fast decisions on tradeoffs revealed by testing
- Acceptance that an unsuccessful test is useful evidence, not a reason to conceal the result
The connected path
Next: Source.
Build a supply path the business can defend.