A possible alternative is to use a different programming language for doing the prototyping than the one which will be used in production. The urge to hang on

A possible alternative is to use a different programming language for doing the prototyping than the one which will be used in production. The urge to hang on to prototype code can be removed, because you are going to do a rewrite in a different language, regardless. By using 2 different languages, there is more freedom to just make a demo, discuss, and then decide what to keep or what direction to go.