Pilot projects are a “death trap” for tech founders. Here’s how to escape them (without burning your best people).
I’ve seen it happen many times: A big customer wants to “start small” with a pilot.
Sounds safe, right? You get your foot in the door, show your value, and then the big deal follows.
But here’s what happens 75% of the time:
→ The customer tests you, but stays non-committal.
→ You burn time & resources for little return. Pulling your best engineers off the roadmap to customize something. Often for free.
→ Then the pilot ends. And you’re right back to selling again — from scratch.
I’ve learned (the hard way) that pilots can keep you stuck. Sure, they feel like progress, but more often than not, they do not lead to full-scale deals.
The worst part is, you end up draining your best people and runway on something that never had legs.
Now I do 3 things before I agree to any “test phase”.
1. Sell the roll-out, from the very beginning.
Don’t let the pilot box you in. Always frame your offer as one that only makes sense at “scale” — across teams, units, or the customer’s entire portfolio. Not just one small part.
From the first meeting, make it clear: you’re here to build for the entire organization, not run a limited test.
2. Position it as a “proof of concept” phase (POC) instead of a pilot.
A pilot is a (vague) test. A POC is an option to pull back for the customer; but if succesful, it goes on, automatically. Set success criteria up front with the customer. What does “success” look like? What happens when we meet those goals? Get it all in writing “before” anything begins.
3. Charge for the value, not hope.
Don’t give away the POC for free. If they see value, they’ll pay. If they don’t, a pilot is not the answer. I used to think pricing low or free would remove friction. What it actually does is remove urgency, respect, and your leverage.
Yes, test phases are normal. Customers do have a right to mitigate risks. But if they keep stacking pilots on top of pilots, calling it “innovation”, they’re most probably not going to convert to a real, valuable customer.
They just slow you down.
If you want to scale, sell to buyers, not to testers. Sell for scale from the start.
P.S. What’s your experience been with pilots? Did they open doors for you or close them?
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