The way I'd see this working is: - You pay me $5K - I do the thing - In N months, I license the software to you for M months as payment for the $5L - You spend

The way I'd see this working is: - You pay me $5K - I do the thing - In N months, I license the software to you for M months as payment for the $5L - You spend $3K and decide it's worth it - Formal agreement Not bad at all. My only reservation: how do I know that $3K + you = worthwhile for me? How do I know that you are good at acquiring customers? This is actually my main problem (acquiring customers).