Module 3: Paid Pilots & Pre-sales
Crafting a 2-Page Pilot Letter of Intent (LOI)
A legally simple, founder-friendly contract template to secure committed pilot revenue without endless procurement red tape.
Enterprise legal teams will stall your startup for 6 months if you send a standard 40-page master services agreement (MSA). Instead, use a concise, 2-page Pilot Letter of Intent.
The 4 Essential Sections
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Quantifiable Success Outcome (Target Metric) │
│ e.g. "Automates sync for 100+ Shopify daily orders" │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2. Bounded Evaluation Window │
│ Strictly 30 calendar days from credential delivery │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3. Pilot Commitment Fee │
│ $500 - $2,500 non-refundable onboarding deposit │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 4. Automatic Conversion Clause │
│ 100% of pilot fee is credited toward annual license │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Why Non-Refundable Matters
Never run a free pilot. Free pilots lack internal urgency. When a business pays even $500:
- An internal sponsor stakes their reputation on testing the software.
- Engineering provides necessary API tokens and logins within 48 hours instead of 6 weeks.
- The path to converting into an annual subscription is already financially greased.
Continue to Converting Pilots to Recurring Revenue.
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