Status: approved and live (offer set 2026-10-19). Page 09 lists them as the offer. These are the first-phase revenue engine: a small number of labs pay a fixed fee to get a calibrated 3D measurement workflow running, with their own reference measurement beside our result. There are two offers on one page: the Software Design Partnership for labs that already have a laser and a camera, and the Hardware Design Partnership for labs that want to try our instrument. A bounded free validation comes before both. Every step on this page ends in a verifiable artifact. If a step did not produce its artifact, it is not done.
The headline: Turn Any Desktop Computer into a 3D Metrology Lab. The one sentence: a camera and a laser record a hologram; our software turns it into a calibrated 3D measurement with proof attached, and for labs without a laser and camera we sell the instrument too.
| Software Design Partnership | Hardware Design Partnership | |
|---|---|---|
| For | a lab that already has its own laser and sensor (it records holograms or interferograms today) | a lab or QA bench that wants 3D surface or thickness measurement but has no rig |
| Price | $10,000 fixed | $25,000 fixed |
| Length | about 90 days | about 4 months (build, calibrate and ship, then about 3 months of onboarding) |
| Payment | 50% invoiced at signing, 50% at day 45 | 50% invoiced at signing, 50% on delivery of the instrument |
| They get | the pipeline calibrated to their rig; their real frames processed, each result with an evidence record; a custom pipeline profile; a written comparison against a reference they already trust; priority engineering; the right to publish | everything in the software deal, plus one of our capture instruments, built to order, calibrated and shipped. It is theirs to keep. It is a research unit, not a certified or medical instrument |
| We get | a citable reference customer, physical-target evidence, a monthly-plan conversion | the same, plus an instrument in the field running our pipeline |
| Before it | the free validation (below) | the free validation (below), run on a sample or target they send us |
No metering during either engagement. Nothing about the instruments is shipped yet: each one is built to order inside the Hardware Design Partnership. Never promise a ship date, a model name or how the instrument works; the operator sets the delivery date in the agreement.
Software. For a fixed $10,000 over about 90 days, your lab sends us real holograms from your own rig plus one reference measurement you already trust. We calibrate the pipeline to your rig and return calibrated 3D reconstructions of your frames, each with a re-computable evidence record; a custom pipeline profile; priority engineering attention; a written comparison against your reference; and the right to publish and cite the results, with co-authorship where our contribution earns it. At day 90 it converts to a monthly plan, or ends cleanly.
Hardware. For a fixed $25,000 over about 4 months, we build, calibrate and ship you one of our capture instruments (it is yours to keep), then work with you for about three months until you are measuring on your own. It includes everything in the Software Design Partnership.
| Offer | Segment | Typical group | Why they buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software | University holography / interferometry groups | groups publishing DH, phase-retrieval or holographic-tomography work | home-grown scripts that only one student understands; a deterministic baseline with a provenance record to compare their own methods against |
| Software | Biomedical QPI / DHM labs | cell-biology, neuroscience, imaging-flow-cytometry and hematology groups with an off-axis or in-line holographic microscope | reproducibility: multi-site studies, reviewers and auditors want to know exactly how each phase map was made; students leave and take the setup with them |
| Hardware | Teaching labs and core facilities | instructional optics labs; shared imaging or characterisation facilities | they want quantitative 3D surface or phase measurement for many users and own no holography rig |
| Hardware | Industrial lab-side QA benches | applied-research institutes and university metrology centres doing micro-optics, MEMS or semiconductor-surface measurement on the bench | a commercial holographic microscope costs $100K+ and is out of reach; they want a second, re-computable 3D measurement beside a reference they trust |
| Hardware | Biology / materials groups with no rig | groups that need cell or film thickness or surface height but have never recorded a hologram | same reason: a lab-grade 3D measurement without a six-figure instrument |
A lab that has its own rig and wants our instrument may take the Hardware deal; never sell the Hardware deal to a lab whose need the Software deal already meets.
The named target list is
design-partner-targets.csv (sales-flock
sign-in, same as page 12): 29 groups with the evidence link, likely budget
source and best first-contact channel. Work it in the dp_priority order.
Industrial boundary (read before touching an industrial row). Both partnerships are lab-side engagements: frames (or the instrument) stay on the lab bench, and results come from the hosted service. Neither is an in-plant deployment. If a prospect needs the service inside their network, a line-speed result, or a production station, that is the industrial gate list on page 21: log it there, do not sell a design partnership into it. Production lines and production micro-optics makers stay log-only, do not approach (page 15).
| What it is | |
|---|---|
| They send | (1) real holograms from their own rig (typically 20–200 frames), with wavelength, pixel pitch and distance for each set; Hardware partners record these on our instrument once it arrives; (2) one reference measurement of the same target from an instrument they already trust (profilometer, interference microscope, AFM, a known calibration target, a bead or cell standard); (3) a named technical contact. |
| We deliver (both) | (1) reconstructions of their frames, each with its evidence record (content-addressed result ID, software version, SHA-256 commitments to input and config); (2) a software-defined calibration run on a known target where their setup allows it (hex-nut or salt-crystal style targets; it recovers pixel pitch, and we say so); (3) a custom pipeline profile pinned to their rig, kept on their account after the engagement; (4) priority engineering: a weekly 30-minute check-in and their issues at the front of the engineering queue; (5) a written comparison report: their frame, their reference measurement, our reconstruction, all three committed, stating plainly where they agree and where they do not. |
| We deliver (Hardware only) | (6) one capture instrument, built to order, calibrated and tested before shipping, theirs to keep (a research unit, not certified or medical); (7) setup help and about three months of onboarding until they measure on their own. |
| Rights | They may publish and cite the results. Co-authorship where our contribution meets the journal's authorship rules; otherwise a citation of the service (the citation line on page 18). We name them publicly as a design partner only with their written permission. |
| At the end | Converts to a paid plan (pay-as-you-go or a monthly plan from the live plans); the custom profile stays on the account. Or a clean end, logged. |
What neither includes: an accuracy, traceability or uptime guarantee; any turnaround promise beyond the weekly check-in; on-prem software; a certified, clinical or production instrument. The comparison report is how we find out how well it agrees on their rig. We do not claim the answer in advance.
Every partnership starts with a bounded free validation (up to ~20 frames, one rig
configuration, one reference measurement, 10 business days). Before any data arrives,
the lab and we agree the acceptance threshold AND the paid-next-step line: "if the
threshold is met, the next step is the <Software / Hardware> Design Partnership,
decided by <date>, signed by <name>." Template:
marketing/sales/acceptance-criteria-template.md; ladder:
marketing/sales/offer-structure.md. Industrial labs that need an NDA or a custom
scope get the same price and structure with a written scope annex, not a different
price.
Ask all five. Qualified = an answer to 1, yes to 2–4 and a named signer for 5. Question 1 picks the offer.
Artifact: the five answers in your design-partner log row (see Step 7),
stage qualified or closed-lost.
Personalize the bracketed parts from the target row's evidence_url. Send
from your company mailbox, plain text, no tracking pixel, no attachment. Every
sentence below is inside the claims boundary.
Subject: your ⟨technique⟩ data, reconstructed with a re-computable record
Dear Dr. ⟨surname⟩,
I read ⟨paper / lab page, one specific detail⟩. We run ApertureAPI, a hosted holographic reconstruction service: every result comes with an evidence record that names the software version and commits to the input and the settings, so anyone can recompute it and get the same answer.
We are taking on a small number of design partners this quarter. For a fixed fee over about 90 days, a lab sends us real holograms plus one reference measurement it already trusts; we return calibrated 3D reconstructions with their evidence records, a processing profile tuned to the rig, and a written comparison against the reference that says where they agree and where they do not. Partners can publish the results. (For labs without a rig, we also build the capture instrument.)
We do not claim accuracy for your rig in advance; the comparison is how we both find out. If that is useful to ⟨group⟩, would you send one hologram (wavelength, pixel pitch, rough distance) so I can show you a result and its record first? No account needed.
⟨your name⟩, ApertureAPI https://api.apertureapi.com/signup?ref=⟨your-handle⟩
The free single reconstruction is how the conversation starts. When a hologram arrives, run page 17 — the 48-hour loop, then ask for the call. Price goes in the call or the follow-up, not the first email.
Artifact: the sent email in your mailbox, and the target row at stage
contacted with date and channel.
If they ask for a number (agreement, accuracy, throughput): give the replacement lines on page 09 and in the claims boundary. Never improvise one.
Artifact: call notes in the log row (date, attendees, decision date),
stage call held.
The operator prepares and countersigns the agreement; you fill only the bracketed facts and send it. A rep never binds the company.
[LAB / ORGANIZATION], [SIGNER, TITLE], [TECHNICAL CONTACT].[Software / Hardware] Design Partnership on
[ONE-SENTENCE WORKFLOW].[START DATE] to [END DATE]; Hardware adds the instrument delivery date
the operator sets.[DATE]; one
reference measurement of [TARGET] by day 45.[END DATE].[NET 30 / PO NUMBER].Artifact: the agreement sent (email in your mailbox), stage
proposal sent; then the countersigned PDF filed by the operator, stage
signed.
Software runs the 90 days below from day 0. Hardware first builds, calibrates and ships the instrument (invoice 2 on delivery, not day 45), then runs the same table from the delivery date, with weekly onboarding calls added.
| Day | What happens | Artifact |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Agreement countersigned; invoice 1 sent by the operator; partner signs up at signup?ref=⟨your-handle⟩ |
signed PDF; partner account exists |
| 1–14 | Frames received and reconstructed; first evidence records sent back; custom profile drafted | result IDs logged in the row |
| 15–45 | Reference measurement received; calibration run on a known target if their setup allows | reference file logged; calibration report ID |
| 45 | Invoice 2 sent by the operator; mid-point check-in | invoice date logged |
| 46–80 | Comparison report drafted with the partner's technical contact | draft shared |
| 80–90 | Comparison report delivered; conversion conversation | report delivered; stage delivered |
Engineering questions during the engagement go to system@apertureapi.com with
DP: ⟨org⟩ in the subject line.
In the last two weeks, ask one question: "Do you want to keep running your
frames on the profile we built?" Yes → they choose pay-as-you-go or a monthly
plan on the live plans page. No →
log closed — delivered, no conversion and ask whether you may list them as a
past design partner (written yes only).
Artifact: the account on a paid plan (it shows in
scripts/count_customers.py as "on a paid plan"), or a logged clean end.
Keep one copy of
design-partner-log-template.csv.
One row per target. Stages, in order: identified → contacted →
qualified → call held → proposal sent → signed → invoice-1 paid →
day-45 → invoice-2 paid → delivered → converted (or closed-lost at
any point, with the reason). Also add the target to your prospect log
(page 09) with flag DP, so the weekly roll-up sees it.
Send the design-partner log with your weekly report (page 23). The operator
confirms payments; you never mark paid without that confirmation.
Artifact: your design-partner log, current to today, in the Monday report.
Buyer pages to pair with this page: design partnership brief · procurement packet · validation docket · reproducibility bundle. Pipeline stages and KPIs: page 00.