Your proposal is your IP. Send it in a format clients can read but can't steal.
Watermarked proposals clients can't strip and reuse
Freelance developers and designers quoting $5k+ custom projects
Clients extract detailed technical proposals then use them to build the product themselves or hire cheaper
ChatGPT made it trivially easy to execute a detailed spec without hiring; freelancers are now acutely aware of the risk
One-time per proposal ($5-15) or subscription $29/mo for unlimited — clear ROI framing against a $17k loss
These are unedited posts and comments from Reddit and Hacker News that fed the hypothesis. Click any of them to read the source.
“Client ghosted me twice… then used my whole proposal to “build the app himself with ChatGPT””
Had a client I’d been talking to for almost two years. Complex mobile app, two sided, video editing, payments, creator map flow… the real deal. I spent hours writing a full proposal, documenting the exact APIs, tools, workflows, stack.. everything. MVP price was ~$17K. He hesit…
Read on Reddit →“I guess I found a problem”
I have a friend who's a freelancer and he teaches other people the field he is in. And all freelancers have the common problem. client acquisition, right? I'm seriously thinking of becoming a lead gen. at the moment I'm collecting email addresses manually and doing cold mailing…
Read on Reddit →“Tired of Clients Undervaluing My Work. Is It Me or the Market?”
Hey everyone, I’m honestly exhausted with pricing issues for every project I take on. Lately, it feels like every client wants me to build a massive app for them… for XXX amount of money. That amount barely covers 20% of the time and effort I’ll put into it. With that budget, I …
Read on Reddit →Want to build it?
It’s yours. We mine the ideas, you ship the products. If you do build it, tag @hyperautomationlabs — we’ll feature it.