Proposal · April 2026
What we
build first.

Three proof-of-concept projects where DNA Behavior's twenty years of behavioral science meets AI-native platform building.

From Ethan Brace, BraceYourself Solutions
ethan@braceyourself.solutions
01

Where this started.

When we spoke on April 3rd, Hugh framed the opportunity clearly: DNA Behavior has spent twenty years proving that personalization should start from how a person is actually wired, not from their demographics. BraceYourself has spent the last year discovering that AI collapses what used to be a ten-person platform build into a one-person six-week ship. Those two things fit together in ways that are worth exploring on the ground before talking about the bigger picture.

Leon asked me to identify one or two proof-of-concept projects. Something small enough to ship fast, real enough to show what the partnership produces. I've landed on three. Each has a fixed price, a six-week ceiling, and a working system at the end. This document is the answer to that ask, plus a section on the Atlanta opportunity Hugh described.

I'm writing this the way Hugh asked for it on the call: the work itself up front, the logic behind the pricing where it matters, and the Atlanta conversation sketched clearly enough that Hugh can bring it into his next meeting with the firm.

You can't say that two people living in the same cul-de-sac with a million dollars, two kids, and a wife are exactly the same person. But that's how a lot of models today are driven.

Hugh Massie · April 3, 2026

02

What I'd build first.

Three projects. Each small enough to ship inside six weeks, each designed to prove what the partnership is rather than describe it.

01
Digitize a DNA Behavior Training Program

Take one existing in-person training program (Leon and Hugh pick which one) and convert it into a complete digital experience. Participants move through the material at their own pace, but the material itself moves with them.

  • Participant onboarding via the Natural Behavior Discovery assessment
  • AI-guided, profile-adaptive content. An Engager, a Reflective Thinker, and an Influencer receive meaningfully different prompts and reflections at the same point in the curriculum
  • Embedded behavioral coaching checkpoints drawn from DNA Behavior's existing content library
  • Completion tracking and a certification artifact
  • Admin dashboard for DNA Behavior to monitor cohort progress

Why this is a real proof: it shows the API integration with your existing assessment engine, the AI layer that personalizes from behavioral data rather than persona segments, and the platform-layer UX. It also becomes the first reference for every future training digitization conversation.

Timeline6 weeks
Fixed fee
$48,000
02
SDK Client Demo Build

Pick one DNA Behavior client, or a hypothetical composite built from patterns Leon and Hugh see repeatedly, and build the platform they'd want on top of the DNA Behavior API. White-labeled, fully functional: a financial advisor's client-facing tool, a leadership development cohort, an onboarding journey. Built on the DNA feed, layered with the client's own IP.

  • Full white-label build using DNA Behavior's API as the behavioral data layer
  • Client's coaching, advisory, or onboarding process rendered on top
  • Works as a live demonstration and as a reference architecture simultaneously

Why this is a real proof: it becomes a sales asset for DNA Behavior before it becomes anything else. Any future client who wants their own branded platform gets shown this first. It is the demo, the template, and the reference architecture in one deliverable.

Timeline5 weeks
Fixed fee
$38,000
03
Behavioral-First Advisor Cockpit

A unified dashboard for a financial advisor managing multiple client relationships. Each client's current DNA Behavior profile, financial behavior score, and market-mood signal appears alongside the advisor's next-best actions, surfaced by the system, not assembled by hand.

  • Advisor opens Monday morning: "Three clients whose market-mood score spiked this week. One of them you haven't contacted in 45 days. His profile shows poor tolerance for silence during volatility."
  • Every insight is driven by the DNA Behavior data layer, not a static CRM field
  • Real-time signal monitoring with behavioral context, not just activity logs

Why this is a real proof: it is directly demonstrable to the 200-advisor Atlanta firm before the enterprise consolidation conversation. It shows what the consolidated platform feels like for one advisor, and scales the proof without requiring a full enterprise build first.

Timeline6 weeks
Fixed fee
$52,000
03

The 200-advisor conversation.

An Atlanta wealth management firm. 65+ tech stacks. 200 advisors who each want to serve their clients differently. This is the larger opportunity Hugh described on the call, and the one where partnership economics matter most.

What it is
One platform, replacing 65.

A single workspace replacing 65+ vendor tools across a 200-advisor firm. Unified advisor experience, unified client experience, each powered by DNA Behavior's psychometric layer and AI co-pilots tuned to the behavioral style of each advisor and each client. The platform doesn't treat all advisors the same way, because the data says they aren't.

How we get in the room
Hugh brings the relationship. I build the proof.

DNA Behavior is already the behavioral foundation the firm trusts. Hugh carries the credibility and the conversation. My role is to build the presentation deliverable: a live, interactive 10-minute demo of what the consolidated platform could look like, using a synthetic but realistic dataset. A demo the firm can react to, not a deck they have to imagine. The difference matters.

The prep work
Fixed-price to win the room.

Three pieces, each scoped and priced independently so the work is transparent.

Discovery sprint with Hugh and Leon Lock the story. What the firm sees, what the pitch is, what Phase 1 looks like
1 week
$8,000
Interactive demo build Live consolidated advisor cockpit, synthetic dataset, demonstrable in the meeting room
3 weeks
$22,000
Presentation-ready roadmap Phase 1 / 2 / 3 breakdown with per-phase pricing the firm can say yes to directly
1 week
$5,000
Total prep cost
$35,000
If the firm says yes

Phase 1 build: advisor cockpit, DNA Behavior integration, and the first AI co-pilot. Subsequent phases scoped after Phase 1 lands. Partnership economics (revenue share, fixed-fee, or equity) as a separate conversation once the firm is signed.

$180,000
Phase 1 · 4 months · Phases 2 and 3 scoped after delivery
04

How I build.

Week 1
I sit in your seats. Understand the training material, the advisors, the behavioral data model, the existing friction. No code in week one. The work in week one is learning what the work actually is.
Weeks 2 – 5 or 2 – 12
Working software, weekly. Demos every Friday. Course corrections in real time. You see what's being built while it's being built. No reveal at week six, no surprises at delivery.
Ongoing
Per-project operation and tuning. Priced monthly from $4,000. Nothing stays theoretical. If the system needs to change as the data changes, I'm the one who changes it.

Every POC above is fixed-price, fully scoped, and ships a working system. Not a deck and a plan.

05

A small thing I owe you.

I completed the Work Talent assessment after the call. Result: Engager, which tracks. I haven't finished the full DNA Natural Behavior Discovery. That's a gap I'm aware of, and one worth naming directly in a proposal built on the premise that behavioral foundation matters. I'll have it done before our next call. Not because it changes what I'd build, but because the whole premise of this partnership is that starting from how someone is actually wired produces better work than starting from a persona. That includes mine.

06

A 45-minute call to pick one.

No commitment today. The call costs nothing and produces the first concrete move: which POC to start, when kickoff happens, and how to pre-wire the Atlanta timeline if the timing is right.

Call agenda · 45 minutes
POC selection. Hugh and Leon pick which of the three projects to start. Or we scope a fourth if something fits better.
Kickoff date. Set a start date and week-one logistics.
Atlanta pre-wire. If the timing is right, sketch how the prep work maps to the firm's decision timeline.
Ethan Brace
BraceYourself Solutions
Available any weekday next week, 10 AM – 4 PM ET