Alias Advising
The Alias Pilot
A fixed-scope, two-month engagement for founders developing 1–4 SKUs in a single product line. You walk out with a defensible go/no-go, partner introductions, a feasibility read, and a real COGS picture. At the end we either continue into the full retainer or wrap up cleanly — and either way, the deliverables are yours.
What the Alias Pilot is
The Alias Pilot is a two-month engagement designed to get you to a defensible go/no-go on your beverage idea — without committing to a long retainer before either of us knows whether we should be working together.
It is a productized, scoped-down version of Phase 1 of the full 4-Phase Growth Plan: the concept and feasibility stage where most expensive mistakes get prevented, or made.
If we are a good fit, we continue into the full retainer at week 8. If we are not — or if the work reveals you do not need a retainer at all — we conclude and you keep everything we have built. Both outcomes are valid.
Why this exists
Most early-stage beverage founders do not fail because their product is bad. They fail because they spend money in the wrong order.
They commit to formulation before they know if the format is feasible. They line up co-packers before they know what their real COGS will be. They pitch retailers with margin assumptions that fall apart at scale. They burn relationships with manufacturers because they showed up underprepared.
The Alias Pilot exists to surface those problems early, when they are cheap to fix or cheap to walk away from.
The real question
The hardest decision in early-stage beverage is not “how do we launch.” It is “should we?”
The Pilot is built around that question. Most brands will not make it past Phase 1, and that early clarity saves time, money, and relationships. Killing or pausing a weak idea is a successful outcome, not a failure.
Is this for you?
The Pilot is built for one specific situation. Be honest with yourself — if it does not describe you, the full retainer is probably the better starting point.
This is for you if
- You are developing a new RTD beverage brand and are not in market yet.
- You are working on 1–4 SKUs in a single product line — flavors, sweetness levels, or caffeine variants of the same core product.
- You have not locked in formulation, co-packers, or production yet.
- You want a defensible answer, based on real numbers and real partners, before you commit serious capital.
- You have a launch timeline of at least six months out.
This is not for you if
- You are already in market with an established brand. Let’s talk about Phase 4 retainer support instead.
- You are evaluating SKUs across multiple distinct product lines. Retainer territory.
- You are mid-formulation or already have co-packers lined up. You are past Phase 1.
- You need to launch in under six months. The Pilot’s pace does not serve you.
- You want someone to validate decisions you have already made. The Pilot is built to pressure-test, not to nod along.
What you’ll get
Five concrete deliverables, plus working sessions throughout. Everything is yours to keep, regardless of whether we continue at week 8.
- Up to two recommended partner introductions — manufacturers, flavor houses, suppliers, or service providers. So that you exit the Pilot with at least one real working relationship, not just a list. The same introductions typically apply across all SKUs in your line.
- Product line definition and constraint summary So that there is a written artifact aligning you, your partners, and any future advisor on what is feasible at the line level.
- Technical and regulatory feasibility assessment, per SKU So that hidden risks — acidification, claims, shelf-life, processing assumptions — are visible before you spend a dollar on formulation.
- High-level COGS and margin range, per SKU So that your pricing, channel, and funding assumptions are reality-tested before they are baked into a deck.
- Go / no-go recommendation with rationale, per SKU So that you can confidently double down or walk away based on facts, not optimism. And if some SKUs work and others do not, you can prune the line before scaling.
Working sessions throughout
- Initial deep-dive working session, 60–90 minutes, at the start
- Mid-pilot review session, 60 minutes, at week 4
- One to two focused follow-up sessions, 30–60 minutes each, as needed
- Ongoing async review and feedback throughout — email, documents, light calls
- Decision session, 60 minutes, at the end of week 8
How it works
The eight-week structure is fixed. The pace is brisk but not crushing — most of the heavy lifting happens async on my side, between sessions.
| Week | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | Initial deep-dive working session, 60–90 minutes. I gather what you have already done; we align on scope, success criteria, and decision points. |
| 2–3 | First analysis pass, mostly async on my side. One focused working session. Initial findings shared in writing. |
| 4 | Mid-pilot checkpoint session, 60 minutes. We refine direction based on what we have found and confirm what the final deliverable will say — no surprises in week 7. |
| 5–6 | Targeted execution. I complete the in-scope deliverables. One focused working session. Async coordination on partner introductions. |
| 7 | Findings and recommendations packet shared. You review. |
| 8 | Decision session, 60 minutes. Continue into the full retainer, or conclude. Decision made in the room. |
What it costs
Pricing scales with how many SKUs we are evaluating. All of it is one-time, paid on signature.
| Your scope | Pilot fee |
|---|---|
| 1 SKU | $2,000 |
| 2 SKUs, same product line | $2,500 |
| 3–4 SKUs, same product line | $3,000 |
What’s included
- All five deliverables listed above
- All working sessions throughout the eight weeks
- Async review and feedback between sessions
- The week 8 decision session
What’s not included
- Bench formulation work
- Co-packer scheduling or production planning
- Evaluation beyond four SKUs, or SKUs across different product lines
- More than one round of refinement on each deliverable
- Label and artwork review, and regulatory label-compliance review
- Nutritional-panel generation and claims substantiation
- Third-party lab and testing fees, and sample production costs — pass-through costs you pay directly
- Trademark, IP work, and brand naming
If you need any of the above, that is the full retainer — which is exactly what we will talk about at week 8 if it is a fit.
What happens at the end
Week 8 ends with a 60-minute decision session. There are two outcomes. Both are explicit. Both are valid.
Option 1 — continue into the retainer
If we are working well together and you need ongoing support, we move into Alias Production, the full 4-Phase Growth Plan retainer. Your Pilot deliverables become the day-one inputs — no rediscovery, no relearning.
- Retainer kickoff scheduled within 30 days
- We pick up exactly where the Pilot left off
- The Pilot fee is not credited toward the retainer; it covered Phase 1 work, which is real value on its own
Option 2 — conclude
If we are not the right fit, or if the Pilot revealed you do not actually need ongoing support, we wrap up cleanly.
- All deliverables — partner introductions, feasibility assessment, COGS, go/no-go — belong to you
- No further fees, no obligations, no awkward follow-up
- If you want to re-engage later we start a new conversation, but you are not starting from zero and we already know each other’s work
Why this matters
Most consultants want to convert you. I want to make sure we should be working together. The two-outcome structure removes pressure from the week 8 conversation — you can say no without feeling like you are leaving money on the table, and I can recommend pausing without feeling like I am losing a sale.
Common questions
Why not just go straight to the retainer?
If you are ready, we can. But for most founders this is a first-time engagement, and the Pilot exists so neither of us is committing to six months based on a sales call. The fee is low enough to be a reasonable test, and the deliverables stand alone — you keep them either way.
$2,000 to $3,000 for two months. What’s the catch?
No catch. The scope is tightly defined: up to four SKUs in a single product line, up to two partner introductions, a feasibility read, a COGS range, and a go/no-go. If you need more — multiple product lines, formulation work, production support — that is the retainer.
Is the Pilot fee credited toward the retainer?
No. The fee compensates the Phase 1 work, which is real value on its own. The retainer is a separate decision based on whether the work is going well and whether you need ongoing support. Keeping them decoupled means there is no pressure on the week 8 conversation.
What if we don’t want to continue at the end?
Concluding is one of the two named outcomes. You keep all the deliverables and use them however you want. Most early-stage brands will not make it past Phase 1, and that early clarity saves time, money, and relationships.
Can we re-engage later if we conclude?
Of course. It would be a new conversation, but your Pilot deliverables do not expire and we already know each other’s work, so re-engagement is faster the second time around.
What counts as the “same product line”?
If the SKUs would run on the same production line, share most of their ingredient deck, and target the same shopper, they are the same line. Variants like flavors, sweetness levels, or caffeine levels of the same core product all count. Different formats — a sparkling product and a still product, say — different processing requirements, or different shopper occasions usually mean different lines.
Can you do it in less than two months?
Two months is the floor. Phase 1 alone runs two to four weeks of focused work, and the additional time is what gives us a real decision basis instead of a rushed conclusion. Compressing it produces shallower recommendations, which does not serve either of us.
How do payments work?
One hundred percent on signature, by default. If you would prefer a 50/50 split — on signature and at the start of month two — just say so.
What do you need from me to get started?
Whatever you have so far: product concept, ingredient ideas, target consumer, any partners you have talked to. We will cover the gaps in the kickoff session. No formal brief required.
Ready to start?
Most decisions about your brand — what to launch, what to kill, who to partner with — get easier once you have honest answers to a small number of structural questions. The Pilot is built to give you those answers in 60 days, for less than the cost of a single bad co-packer trial.
Or call 515-729-3820. If the Pilot looks like a fit, I’ll send you a proposal within 48 hours.