CASE 04 · PRODUCT DISCOVERY

Three-week European Innovation Academy sprint

Turning a broad question about AI and learning into a testable product thesis

A five-person international team moved from a broad idea to customer evidence, a prelaunch waitlist, and a final-stage pitch in three weeks.

Porto, Portugal
Co-Founder & CEO
July 2025

HiThinkr discovery and acquisition sequenceA three-week program moved through 42 interviews, three prioritized gameplay loops, promotional tests, 430 waitlist signups, and a reported 31 percent visitor-to-waitlist conversion rate.DISCOVERY42INTERVIEWSPRIORITIZATION03GAMEPLAY LOOPSACQUISITION430WAITLIST SIGNUPSREPORTED RATE31%VISITOR → WAITLISTTHREE-WEEK EIA PROGRAM · FIVE-PERSON INTERNATIONAL TEAM · VENTURE NOW INACTIVE
  1. Discovery42 interviews
  2. Prioritization3 gameplay loops
  3. Acquisition430 waitlist signups
  4. Reported rate31% visitor → waitlist
FIG 01The program compressed discovery, prioritization, acquisition testing, and communication. The waitlist metrics are reported team results, not revenue or retention.
Role
Co-Founder & CEO
Team
Five-person international team
Duration
Three-week build sprint
Status
Program completed · Venture inactive
Methods
Interviews · product definition · acquisition tests · pitch
Disclosure
Reported team metrics

Discovery

01

The purpose of speed was to learn, not to make certainty look easy.

The team began with a broad question about students’ relationship with AI. Forty-two interviews turned that question into a testable product thesis and three prioritized gameplay loops.

The intended product was a set of AI mini-games for critical-thinking practice. The evidence supported a proposition and a prelaunch experiment. It did not establish learning efficacy, retention, or product-market fit.

My role: lead a five-person international team through product-definition sprints, customer evidence, promotional tests, and the final pitch.

Current status: the team tried to continue after the program. Geography and team separation stopped the venture later in 2025.

Product definition

02

Discovery narrowed the idea to three prioritized loops.

PD-01

Learn quickly from prospective users

Three weeks
PD-02

Reduce the concept to a testable first-games proposition

Three weeks
PD-03

Define a measurable prelaunch action

Three weeks

Acquisition evidence

03

A waitlist signal is useful when it is not mistaken for customers.

Constraint

Test interest before a complete product existed

Decision

Direct visitors toward a prelaunch first-games waitlist

Evidence

430 reported signups at 31% visitor-to-waitlist conversion

Next test

Measure actual engagement and learning outcomes; the venture is inactive

Evidence ledger

04

The metrics are team results and remain professionally reported.

Reported · team

Verified 2026-09-25

Five-person team completed 42 interviews and prioritized three gameplay loops

reported

Reported · team

Verified 2026-09-25

Promotional tests generated 430 first-games waitlist signups at a reported 31% visitor-to-waitlist conversion rate

reported

Reported · team

Verified 2026-09-25

Team placed among the Top 10 of 60+ ventures and won the Nixon Peabody Trademark Award

reported

What remains

05

Applause is not product truth.

OPEN-01

Stable public artifacts for the waitlist denominator and time period

Unresolved
OPEN-02

The exact interview insight that changed the product

Unresolved
OPEN-03

A complete rights-cleared image set

Unresolved

Program source

06

A compressed product cycle, now correctly bounded.

Storytelling is strongest after the team has learned something real.