Q2 2026 — 1 of 3 partner slots open
Three weeks. 
Validate your build with real customer evidence. 

Most product teams go to market built on their own assumptions. In a world with more noise than ever — KERF cuts through it with real human validation, fast. The exact buyers who will make or break your deal, before you bet on the wrong one.

Sprint duration

3 weeks

Interview format

Deep 1:1s

Clients per quarter

3 max

MastercardJPMorganModernaPayPalSquareBoston DynamicsMastercardJPMorganModernaPayPalSquareBoston Dynamics

ThecostofbeingwrongonAIfeaturesinregulatedindustriesisthehighestinthemarketandproductteamsarevalidatingtheleast.

KERF Research

Every sprint we run is designed to close that gap in three weeks.

The Problem

You went to market with a buyer you've never spoken to.

PAIN 01

The buyer wasn't in your product review

Founders, PMs, and early advisors make the build decisions. The compliance manager, clinical lead, or ops director who controls the actual budget wasn't in that room — and has a completely different set of concerns.

PAIN 02

AI validates what's in the dataset. Not what's missing.

AI tools surface patterns from what you've already collected. They can't tell you what your buyers care about that you've never thought to measure — which is usually what determines whether an enterprise deal closes.

PAIN 03

Enterprise objections surface at the worst moment

The concern that kills your pilot at month three was visible in conversations that never happened at month one. By then, you've already built for the wrong buyer.

The pattern

The deal-killing objection, the pilot that stalls, the enterprise that goes cold after week two — they all trace back to something a real buyer would have said in week one. If anyone had asked.

The Sprint

Three weeks. You show up twice.

Day 0

Kickoff

Days 1–4

Recruit + script lock

Days 5–15

Interviews

Days 16–19

Synthesis

Day 21

Readout

Your time commitment: Day 0 kickoff (1 hr) + Day 21 readout (2 hrs). We run everything in between.

Full methodology →

Who We Work With

Built for one type of team.

Where compliance and AI features collide

Fintech

Same risk profile. Fewer research vendors who understand it.

Insurtech

HIPAA stakes demand real evidence, not synthetic personas.

Digital Health

Early market. Thin research competition. High malpractice exposure.

Legaltech

0 1:1s

Interview format

0 weeks

Sprint duration

0 max

Clients per quarter

Q2 2026 — 1 of 3 partner slots open

Q2 cohort is open.

Two partner slots. One is already in conversation.