Questions teams ask before working with charmthirteen.
Build, Training, pricing, and VibeCheck.exe. If your question isn't here, book a Vibe Check.
Build
Is Discovery required before a build?
Yes. Discovery is the diagnosis. It is where we find what is actually broken and whether a build is even the right answer, and every Blueprint and Build is scoped from it. It is $875 in the Small Business lane and a $4,500 Audit in the Enterprise lane, and it credits 100% toward the next step within the credit window.
Can I buy a Blueprint without a build?
Yes. A Blueprint is a complete design your own team or another vendor can build from. It is charmthirteen's IP until it is paid for, and you own the design once it is.
Which tools do you build with?
Whatever your organization allows and already pays for. We are tool-agnostic. Claude, OpenAI, Lovable, n8n, Zapier, Supabase, and the systems you already run all show up in builds, and the choice is made in the Blueprint, not before.
Who owns what we build?
You do. The product or agent runs on your accounts and your API keys, nothing runs on charmthirteen accounts, and you keep the code, the prompts, and the documentation.
What does support cost after the build?
$175 per hour with no retainer in the Small Business lane. Enterprise clients can choose a $1,500 per month retainer covering eight hours with a three-month minimum, or the same $175 hourly rate.
How do you handle HIPAA and PHI?
Zero-PHI by default. Builds run on your accounts under your BAAs and vendor agreements, PHI never touches charmthirteen systems, and the Blueprint names every place data flows so your compliance lead can sign off before a line of code exists.
What is the difference between a product and an agent?
A product has its own front door and its own users. An agent or workflow automation lives inside work you already do. The process, the pricing, and the ownership are identical either way.
Why is there one price per lane?
Because the lane is set by scope, not by who you are. One or two workflows for one team is Small Business pricing whether you are a clinic, a med spa, or a city department. Multiple teams, shared systems, or a governance requirement is Enterprise pricing. Complexity add-ons are priced in the Blueprint, which is why the site says starting at.
How long does a build take?
Discovery is a single session in the Small Business lane and a multi-week Audit in the Enterprise lane. Blueprint and Build timelines are set in Discovery and written into the Blueprint, so you know the calendar before you commit to a build.
Working with charmthirteen
We do not know what we need yet. Can we still talk to you?
A free 20 minute Vibe Check to see where you are and whether I am the right person to help. You bring the problem, not the diagnosis. From there it is either training for your team or the Build ladder, which is Discovery, then a Blueprint you own, then a build that runs on your accounts. Discovery decides which, and nothing gets scoped before it.
What does charmthirteen do?
charmthirteen works with teams whose AI adoption is not working, the tools people barely use, the experiments with no consistency, the manual work that should be a system by now. We find what is actually broken, then build the product or agent workflow, train the people, or both, for healthcare and government teams and the founders building for them. Two entryways: Build, which runs Discovery, Blueprint, and Build in two lanes with published prices, and Training, which includes the Working 9 to AI series and Claude Loves Lovable. Every engagement starts with a free Vibe Check, and you do not have to know which entryway you need before you book.
Is this for us if we are not in healthcare?
Yes. charmthirteen also works with government teams and founders building for regulated or high-stakes environments. It fits best when you have a real project in motion, not just an idea you are still turning over.
How much does it cost?
Build has published prices in two lanes. Small Business / Clinic is $875 Discovery, $2,000 Blueprint, builds starting at $3,250, and $175 per hour support with no retainer. Enterprise / Org-wide is a $4,500 Audit, then Blueprint and Build quoted from it, with a $1,500 per month retainer or $175 per hour. Training has one open seat price, Clock In to AI at $95, and everything else is scoped in a Vibe Check. Stellar Agents is free for Artificially Designed subscribers.
Do you work with early-stage founders or only established teams?
Both. The scope changes with the stage, so early-stage work tends to be sharper and faster, established teams tend to need more integration with what already exists.
VibeCheck.exe
What is VibeCheck.exe?
An AI thinking partner that pressure-tests your idea before you build it. You describe the idea, VibeCheck pushes back with the questions that matter, and it tells you to sharpen the idea, redirect it, or drop it. See the full write-up on the blog.
How is VibeCheck different from ChatGPT?
A general-purpose assistant tends to agree with you by default. VibeCheck is built to push back with grounded, honest feedback, checking what already exists in the market before it supports an idea.
Where can I try VibeCheck.exe?
At charmthirteen.com/vibecheck. Five questions about your idea, then a verdict: sharpen it, redirect it, or kill it. The verdict and the PRD are both free while VibeCheck.exe is in beta.
What is the AI Collaboration Pyramid?
A three level framework for working with AI, built on ask with curiosity, explore with intention, and refine with judgment. It is what VibeCheck.exe is built on. It is a different thing from the Orbit Framework, which is the discovery methodology used in client engagements.