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Client Briefing Copilot: AI-Powered Intake & Scope Protection

70% of creative projects suffer from scope creep because clients don't know what they want until they see what they don't want. Creatives waste hours on discovery calls, unclear requirements, and endless revisions. This app protects your time and sanity by extracting crystal-clear requirements before work begins.

App Concept

  • AI agent conducts structured client interviews via conversational UI or video call transcription
  • Asks strategic questions based on project type (branding, web design, video production, photography)
  • Detects vague language ("modern," "pop," "professional") and drills down to specific examples and references
  • Generates comprehensive creative briefs with objectives, deliverables, timeline, budget, success metrics
  • Creates scope protection documents that flag out-of-scope requests during project execution
  • Integrates with project management tools (Notion, Asana, Monday) for seamless handoff

Core Mechanism

  • Client receives personalized intake link and completes AI-guided questionnaire (15-20 min)
  • AI asks follow-up questions when answers are ambiguous: "Can you share 3 examples of 'modern'?"
  • Vision AI analyzes reference images clients upload to understand aesthetic preferences
  • Generates structured brief with success criteria, deliverables matrix, revision policy, and payment terms
  • During project: AI monitors Slack/email for scope creep keywords and alerts creative with suggested responses
  • Feedback loop: Tracks which briefs led to successful projects (no scope creep, on-time delivery, happy client)
  • Gamification: "Scope Protection Score" shows how well your briefs prevent revisions

Monetization Strategy

  • Freemium: 2 AI-generated briefs per month, unlimited for $49/month
  • Professional tier ($149/month): Unlimited briefs, scope monitoring, custom question templates, analytics
  • Agency tier ($399/month): Team collaboration, client portal, branded intake forms, API access
  • Per-brief pricing: $25 one-time for ad-hoc projects (captures non-subscription users)
  • Template marketplace: Sell industry-specific brief templates ($15-50) and question libraries

Viral Growth Angle

  • "Scope Creep Hall of Fame": Anonymous gallery of hilarious/outrageous client requests that were out-of-scope
  • Social proof: "This brief saved me 12 hours of revisions" testimonials with before/after project timelines
  • Client-facing value: Clients love the professional intake process, ask their other vendors to use it
  • Integration marketplace: Partnerships with Fiverr, Upwork, Contra where freelancers require clients to complete briefs
  • Referral loop: Every brief includes "Created with [App]" footer driving traffic

Existing projects

  • Bonsai - Freelance management but manual brief creation
  • HoneyBook - Client management with templated questionnaires (not AI-powered)
  • Moxie - Freelance operations platform, lacks intelligent requirement extraction
  • Copysmith - AI copywriting, not client interviewing
  • Fireflies.ai - Call transcription but doesn't generate actionable briefs

Evaluation Criteria

  • Emotional Trigger: Limit risk (avoid scope creep disasters), be indispensable (clients appreciate the professionalism)
  • Idea Quality: Rank: 9/10 - Extremely high pain point (scope creep is universal) + clear ROI (time saved) + AI makes it 10x better than templates
  • Need Category: Stability & Opportunity (Career Security) - Protects income and workflow predictability
  • Market Size: ~60M freelance creatives globally × $49/month = $2.94B TAM
  • Build Complexity: Medium - Conversational AI, vision analysis, integration APIs, real-time monitoring
  • Time to MVP: 5-7 weeks with AI coding agents (core interviewing logic is straightforward, integrations add complexity)
  • Key Differentiator: Only platform combining AI-powered client interviewing, visual reference analysis, and real-time scope protection in one workflow