From an audit to a complete product
The client was an independent startup, not a project created through an accelerator or funding programme. We began with an audit because the team needed to clarify what to build before committing to implementation. Our work covered competitive analysis, product consulting, technology consulting, architecture, and development of the complete product.
We also joined several calls with prospective customers. Those conversations helped us understand the coordination problems on both sides of the market and test the emerging product assumptions. The client retained responsibility for its commercial direction, while we translated changing requirements into a coherent product and technical model.
The result was a press brief marketplace connecting companies with journalists and editorial teams. It brought structured press briefs, participant profiles, editorial matching, communication after an introduction, and workflows for exclusive material into one product.
Coordinating two sides of media relations
Companies preparing press information and editorial teams looking for suitable stories often use different formats and fragmented communication. A relevant story can reach the wrong person because the company lacks a structured description of the material or because editorial interests are not represented clearly enough.
The two-sided marketplace gave each participant a distinct workflow. Companies could prepare consistent press briefs. Journalist profiles captured interests and contact conditions. The matching layer used information from both sides to propose relevant introductions instead of treating distribution as a generic mailing list.
This made the product a media relations platform rather than only a content-generation tool. Its value depended on the quality of the company brief, the completeness of editorial profiles, the rules governing contact, and the workflow after a match.
Product guidance during implementation
The assignment did not start from a fixed specification. We helped the startup decide what to build, compared its direction with competing products, and advised on product and technology choices. We structured the application data model so companies, users, press materials, editorial profiles, introductions, and permissions could evolve without becoming disconnected features.
We also provided guidance on agentic capabilities. Their purpose was to support structured work such as preparing a brief while retaining clear user responsibility for factual content and final approval. Agentic behavior needed to fit the marketplace workflow rather than become a separate demonstration detached from user needs.
The product concept changed during development. We applied those changes quickly while protecting the underlying relationships between organizations, users, content, and permissions.
Adapting hosting and company roles
One material change replaced an Azure-oriented deployment direction with self-hosting. This affected architecture and operations, not only a hosting setting. We adapted the implementation to the new constraint while continuing product development.
User management also required a substantial refactor. The earlier model placed more responsibility with platform administrators. New requirements introduced granular company-level roles and delegated selected responsibilities to company administrators. We changed the authorization model so each organization could manage more of its own operation without weakening separation between companies.
These changes demonstrate the delivery scope more clearly than a long technology list. The important capability was maintaining a working product while business concepts and operating constraints continued to change.
Supported outcome and limits
The supported outcome is a complete customer product delivered from initial audit through product definition and implementation. It included the two-sided company and editorial experience, structured press information, journalist profiles, matching and communication workflows, product data models, company-level roles, and guidance on agentic features.
This case study does not claim a specific number of companies, journalists, introductions, published stories, paying customers, or a measured matching rate. Prospect calls informed the product but do not establish adoption. No current operating status or independently verified business result was provided.
For a similar marketplace, the practical starting point is to define the exchange, profile data, matching rules, consent boundaries, and responsibilities on both sides before selecting implementation tools. See our approach to digital marketplace design.