7 days, no credit card: do not tour the showroom, move work

Taking a card is a “maybe we’ll use it” hold. Ontra wants the work to sit first. If you like it, you pay per seat on Stripe; if not, you talk export — no surprise charge. Seven days are not for a showroom tour; they are for binding the record. A team that tours sample data forgets it Sunday night. Monday they are still in the old tool because they have screens in Ontra, not work.

When time is up the panel closes and billing stays open. Tasks are not deleted for ads. Subscribe and return to the same records — there is no second setup. To avoid lock panic, put real work on day one. Let the decision rest on the sitting record, not on fear: did stand-up get shorter, is the client date on the card, is the report empty?

Day 1: a real project, three tasks, an assignee, a due date. Day 2: roles and two invites. Day 3: move live work, leave the old tool read-only. Day 4: the docs tree binds to the task. Day 5: sprint lock. Weekend: the report. Do not pile a five-year archive, API keys, and ten custom statuses into week one. The first seven days bind the record. A feature maze produces “it was complicated” on Sunday night. What is complicated is the unbound record, not the tool.

Count the people who work this week. A viewer is still a seat. A shared office account is both a security and a billing problem. Buying seats because “we’ll grow later” does not switch the package; it inflates the bill. There is one plan; growth is adding a person. Stripe shows the per-seat price explicitly. After lock, look at that number, not at a feature list.

A card is a “maybe we’ll use it” hold; Ontra does not ask for it. Seven days are not a showroom; they are record-binding time. A team that tours sample data is in the old tool on Monday. A real project, three tasks, two invites, spec binds, sprint lock, one report. A five-year archive, ten custom statuses, API keys are week two. A solo demo does not measure ritual; Tuesday’s second person brings friction. That friction is the product.

At lock the panel closes, billing stays open, data is not deleted. There is no second setup. Put Stripe’s seat price, this week’s people, and the sitting record side by side. Let the decision come from “did the work run?”, not from fear. If it did not, the move is half-done — the product is not missing. Do not inflate seats for a future team. A viewer is still a seat. There is no surprise charge.

Sunday-night questions: did stand-up get shorter, is the client date on the card, did a new member find the spec, is the report empty? Three yeses and a full report are enough. The “this feature is missing” list is endless. Ontra is built on one record, fine-grained access, live reports. If those three are not visible, do not extend time — finish the binds. Subscribe and return to the same records.

A card is a maybe hold Ontra does not ask. Seven days are binding time not a showroom. Sample data leaves you in the old tool on Monday. Real project three tasks two invites spec bind lock report. Archive ten custom statuses API are week two. A solo demo does not measure ritual. Tuesday’s second person brings friction. Friction is the product. At lock the panel closes billing stays data stays. No second setup. Stripe price people sitting record side by side. The decision is did the work run. If not the move is half-done. Seats are not inflated. A viewer is a seat. No surprise charge.

Sunday four questions: did stand-up shorten is the date on the card was the spec found is the report empty. Three yeses and a full report are enough. Missing features are endless. If one record fine-grained access live reports are not visible time is not extended binds finish. Subscribe and return to the same records. A showroom tour does not pick a sitting record does.

There is no card because the work should sit first. If you like it per-seat Stripe. If not you talk export. That sentence is discipline not a sales pitch.

A team that does not load real work on day one looks in fear on Sunday night. A team that loads looks at the report. That is the difference. The demo exists for that difference.

A solo demo does not measure real work. On day two invite two people and walk one live card together. The yes/no should come from that card, not from a slide.