Straight Answers
What Happens on an Engineering Discovery Call, and How to Prepare
An engineering discovery call is a 30 to 45 minute conversation where an engineer learns what you are building, where it is today, what is blocking you and what a good outcome looks like, so they can recommend a first piece of work. Come with a one-paragraph description, whatever files exist, the date that matters, your constraints and a budget range. You should leave with a clear next step, and afterwards receive a written summary or proposal, or an honest 'we're not the right fit'.
What the engineer will ask
- What are you building, and who is it for?
- Where is it today: idea, sketch, schematic, prototype, or production with a problem?
- What is the date that matters, and what happens if it slips?
- Are you buying something off the shelf and integrating it, or does it have to be engineered custom?
- What is the riskiest unknown, the thing that, if it fails, makes everything else moot?
- What budget does this work have to fit, and who else needs to be part of the decision?
How to prepare in 20 minutes
- Write one paragraph: the problem, the user, and what 'working' means in measurable terms.
- Gather what exists: specs, sketches, schematics, layouts, BOMs, code, test data and photos. Send them before the call if you can.
- List your hard constraints: unit cost, size, power or battery life, environment, certifications, expected volumes.
- Know your budget range. A range lets the engineer shape a first step you can actually fund, instead of a plan you can't.
- Invite the people who will decide, so you don't have to repeat the call.
Questions you should ask the engineer
- What have you shipped that is closest to this, and what went wrong on it?
- Who would actually do the work, and will I talk to them directly?
- What would the first piece of work be, and what question would it answer?
- How will I see progress each week, and where will the files and code live?
- What would make you tell me this project isn't a fit?
- How are parts, prototype fabrication and lab time handled and billed?
What a good call does not do
- It doesn't solve your architecture on the spot. A good engineer will ask more than they tell in the first conversation.
- It doesn't end with a big program price. Large numbers given before the unknowns are understood are guesses.
- It doesn't pressure you to decide on the call.
What you should get afterwards
- A short written summary of what was heard, so you can correct any misunderstanding.
- A proposal with a first fixed piece of work aimed at the riskiest unknown, who would do it, and what it costs.
- Or a straight answer that this isn't a fit, ideally with a suggestion of who is.
Booking a discovery call on Talent Badger
- Go to talentbadger.com/start, describe the project or upload your files, and choose to book a call.
- If you want an NDA first, say so in the brief.
- The call and the brief cost nothing; paid work starts only when you sign a statement of work.
Common questions
Usually 30 to 45 minutes. Fifteen minutes is rarely enough to understand a hardware project well enough to recommend a first step.