Skip to content

The method travels.

HARBOR is federal first. The productization method is not: it works for commercial services firms that sell hours and cannot defend their margin.

SAM.gov Active · UEI K4CVRY71WQZ8 · CAGE 260D0 · NAICS 541512 (opens in new tab)

Talk to usRead the book
A theater worker of the WPA Federal Theater Project in New York.
Theater workers of the WPA Federal Theater Project in New York.National Archives, 195758

The method, without the federal scaffolding.

The stage sequence is the same. The work is the same: find the repeatable asset, design the offer, build it so it repeats. What changes is the assurance and the channel.

HarvestArchitectBuildOperateReplicate

  1. Find the product in the work you already do

    Read the delivery history and surface the repeatable asset buried in it. A commercial services firm has the same record; it is called clients and projects instead of contracts.

  2. Design the offer

    Scope the smallest offer a buyer will pay for, package it as a product, and write down what it includes. The buyer is a commercial procurement team; the discipline is the same.

  3. Build it so it runs without the founder

    Codify the expertise, standardize delivery, and set the boundaries that keep scope from creeping. That is how a services firm stops trading the founder's time for revenue.

What changes.

One stage changes. The rest travels.

Risk-Proof

Risk-Proof

SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001 and the sector rules that apply to you, such as HIPAA, take the place of FedRAMP and CMMC. The question is the same: what must be true before a buyer can sign?

Channels

Marketplaces and partners

Marketplaces and partners take the place of contract vehicles. The offer has to be legible where your buyer already shops.

Cover of Shrink-Wrap It by Amyn Porbanderwala.
Shrink-Wrap It.HARBOR Initiative LLC

How we work with commercial teams.

Two steps before any work is scoped.

  1. A conversation

    Tell us what you sell, who buys it, and where the margin goes. No deck required.

  2. A scoped proposal

    If the method fits, we scope the first piece in writing: the question, the work, the deliverable and the boundary.

  3. The work

    We run the first piece and decide together whether the next stage is worth doing.

Start a conversation.

Tell us what you sell, who buys it, and what you have tried. If the method fits, we will scope the first piece.

Talk to us

A conversation, not a commitment.