What is anti-discovery?
THE SHORT ANSWER
Anti-discovery is how New Era Systems replaces the paid discovery phase. It is a free targeting exercise that takes days, not weeks, and looks for enough signal to build something real. If we can't find that signal, we tell you and both sides walk away with no invoice.
How it differs from a discovery phase
A traditional discovery phase runs for months of interviews, documentation, and stakeholder alignment before anything useful exists. You pay for it, so you fund the process that finds out whether the original idea was sound.
Anti-discovery moves that risk off the buyer. It uses AI-assisted interviewing tools at your pace to find the actual problem, rather than the one described in a kickoff deck. It stops as soon as there is enough signal to build.
Why it works now
Discovery existed because building was expensive, so you had to be sure before you started. AI-assisted development cut the cost of building. If the first prototype is completely wrong, that is useful information that cost half a day. Discovery is a hypothesis, and a prototype tests it faster than a document does.
What comes next
If the signal is there, the next step is a working prototype. The methodology covers the full process, and The Discovery Phase Is a Stall Tactic makes the argument in four minutes.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Do I need a discovery phase for a software project?
You need to know the actual problem. You don't need months of billable interviews to get there. A short targeting exercise followed by a working prototype answers the question a requirements document can't: does this solve the problem for the person who has it?
How long does anti-discovery take?
Days, not weeks, at your pace.
What does anti-discovery cost?
Nothing. If there isn't enough signal to build on, we say so and there is no invoice.
What do I get at the end?
A document describing the target, which is free, and enough signal to build a working prototype.
KEEP READING
Definitions What does prototype-first software development mean?
Prototype-first means you use working software before you commit to building the rest. At New Era Systems, the prototype follows a free targeting exercise, and if it doesn't convince you to proceed, you owe nothing. You pay once there is evidence that the work is worth continuing.
Read the guide →
Definitions What are watermelons and grapes in software projects?
A watermelon is a big software engagement: twelve people, eighteen months, variable scope, and one bad outcome can kill the relationship. A grape is a small bet with the same upside. Watermelons and grapes is how New Era Systems describes shrinking the risk of a project while keeping its full value.
Read the guide →
Deciding Should your firm build its own compliance software or keep renting it?
Build when the vendor charges you again for every client and the tool sits inside the product you sell. Keep renting when the bill is small and stays small, or when the software has nothing to do with what clients pay you for. To check, add up what you pay per year, then compare it with the cost of owning.
Read the guide →BRING US THE PROBLEM.
A targeting exercise that costs you nothing, a working prototype before you sign anything, and a date that holds.