Here's the answer, and it would have sounded absurd five years ago: under $50 and about four days. You no longer need a logo designer, a brand strategist, or a product photographer to launch. You need an image generator, a voice document, and a few hours of focused taste.
The four days have a shape. Day one: name it and buy the web address the same day you decide, because a name you can't own online isn't a name. Day two: write the voice document, three attributes that define how your brand talks, five things it says, five things it never says. This is the most underrated asset you'll build, because every future caption, email, and ad inherits it. Day three: generate twenty logo options and refine one, then create twenty professional product photos from a handful of clean phone shots. Day four: assemble it all into one folder that becomes the single source of truth.
The secret that separates good results from generic ones isn't better prompting. It's the brief. Before touching any design tool, answer ten questions: who exactly is this for, where will it live, what should it make someone feel. Ten minutes of taste work, and the first generation lands close instead of average.
One honest rule for product businesses: enhanced settings are fine, but the product in the photos must be the product in the box. The return rate is where that lie gets invoiced.
The full sprint is Volume 3 of our Founder series.
Execution is free now. Taste is the moat.