We have a prototype for a parallel product that customers are validating strongly, but we're resource-constrained and it's realistically a quarter away from getting dev time. I know other B2B SaaS startups have done larger early deals that help fund the acceleration of features/products like this. How have you structured these deals? Specifically curious about:

Positioning to customers (early access pricing, co-development, etc.) Contract structure (prepayment, milestones, commitments) Timeline commitments you felt comfortable making Biggest lessons learned or pitfalls to avoid

This would accelerate something already validated, not build something unproven from scratch. Any experiences (good or bad) would be helpful!