Quick answer: we run a beta programme with a small group of real customers who need the product now. They get the full product free and a direct line to the founder. In return we ask for honest feedback while they use it and a short call afterwards. The aim is to find where people get stuck before launch.
- Keep the group small and choose people with a real, near-term need.
- Give the whole product, not a cut-down version, and be easy to reach.
- Ask for specific feedback at set moments, and be honest about what happens afterwards.
Unavoidable Studio builds and runs several products, and each one meets real customers before it meets the public. This article is part of building in public: how we run a beta programme, using the live AisleReply beta as the worked example. Details quoted here were checked on the AisleReply site on 27 October 2026.
What is a beta programme?
A beta programme is a short period where a small group of real customers use a working product before it is launched to everyone. It sits after validation, which we describe in how we validate an idea, and before a public launch with published prices.
It is not the same as a free trial. A trial lets someone test a finished product before buying. A beta asks people to use something that is still being shaped, and to tell us honestly what is wrong with it.
Who do we invite to a beta?
People with the problem right now, not people who might have it one day. The AisleReply beta is open to ten UK couples getting married in the next three to six months. A wedding date is a hard deadline, so a couple in that window will use every part of the product for real: sending messages, collecting replies, chasing the quiet guests and reaching a final number.
We keep the group small on purpose. Ten couples is few enough to speak to each one personally, and places are first come, first served, with an application so we can check the product is a fit for their wedding.
What do beta customers get?
The whole product, free, with nothing held back. Beta couples get every feature from AisleReply’s paid plans for their wedding, with no card needed. They also get a direct WhatsApp line to Andrew, and priority support that carries on after the wedding.
A cut-down beta teaches you about the cut-down product. If the beta is to tell us whether the real thing works, beta customers have to use the real thing.
What do we ask beta customers for?
Time and honesty, at moments that suit them. The AisleReply beta asks for three things:
- Honest feedback while they use it. A voice note is fine. Small comments in the moment are often more useful than a long review later.
- A 30-minute call about two weeks after the wedding, when the whole job is done and the details are still fresh.
- A testimonial, if they are happy to give one. It is a choice on the application form, not a condition.
We only ever use real words from real customers. Because beta couples get the product free, any beta quote should say so: the CMA’s short guide on publishing consumer reviews (4 April 2025) warns against reviews that conceal an incentive.
What do we want to learn from a beta?
Where people get stuck, in their own words. We look for the moment someone stops and asks a question, the step they skip, the wording they misread and the job they still end up doing by hand. Those are the fixes that matter most before launch.
We also watch for the signals in product market fit for small products: whether people come back without being reminded, whether they recommend it, and whether the price on the public plans would feel fair once the beta is over. A beta will not prove a product works, but it shows clearly where it does not yet.
How does a beta programme end?
With a clear finish that we agree at the start. For AisleReply, the wedding is the natural end, followed by the short call. After that, the beta page is plain that it is the end unless the couple says otherwise, with at most one email to beta couples afterwards. Saying this up front is part of building in public: people should know what they are signing up for and what they are not.
FAQs
How many people should be in a beta programme?
Few enough that you can talk to every one of them. The AisleReply beta has ten places, which is small enough for the founder to answer each couple personally and still varied enough to show patterns rather than one person's taste.
Should beta customers pay?
Not usually for an early beta. We give the full product free because we are asking for time and honest feedback in return. A free trial, like Unavoidable CRM's 14 days with no card, is different: it is for people deciding whether to buy a finished product.
Can you use beta feedback as testimonials?
Only real words from real customers, and only with their permission. Because beta customers get the product free, we make that clear wherever a beta quote appears. The CMA's guidance on consumer reviews warns against reviews that conceal an incentive.
When does a beta programme end?
When it has answered the questions it was set up to answer, or when the customer's own need ends. For AisleReply that is the wedding itself, followed by a short call. We say up front what happens afterwards, so nobody is left on a list they did not ask for.
To see the product this beta is shaping, visit the AisleReply portfolio page, read why we built AisleReply, or browse the blog for more on how the studio works.
Founder of Unavoidable Studio, a UK venture studio in Leeds building seven software companies at once. Answers his own inbox.