The report is the residue.
The researcher is the product.

Why 48 Research exists

A factory owner in Samut Prakan, an import-retail operator in Hanoi, a school director in Bangkok — they hit the same wall. The decision is in front of them, the information is contradictory, and the people who could sort it out charge $15,000 and arrive six weeks late.

The obvious fix is to hire someone who knows the region. That means a salary, a visa and six months before they're useful. For one decision, nobody does it.

So borrow one instead. That's what 48 Research is. Not a report shop — a researcher you can bring in for two to four weeks, point at a single question, and release when it's answered.

What you're actually buying

Weeks and judgment. I sit on your side of the table for the length of the sprint: reading your assumptions back to you, arguing with the ones that don't hold, chasing the follow-up question that only appears after the first answer lands.

Something written usually comes out of it — a market structure, a competitor map, a sizing, a memo your management team can take into the room. Those are useful. They're also just the residue. If the whole engagement had happened on three calls and a whiteboard, and you walked away able to make the call, the job was done.

That's the difference. A report shop is finished when the PDF is sent. I'm finished when you can decide.

How the work runs

Four steps: clarify the real question, research it from several angles, stress-test what comes back, then commit to a recommendation. AI handles the collecting and sorting, which is genuinely faster than it was three years ago. That's not the valuable part. The valuable part is deciding which of the contradictory sources to believe — and that still takes someone who has been in the room.

Fixed scope. Fixed price. Starter sprints from $500; a full sprint runs $1,500–$3,000 over two to four weeks. No retainer, no headcount, no standing invoice.

Where I work

Southeast Asia — mostly Vietnam and Thailand, plus the wider CLMV region, with work across education, retail, import-export, manufacturing and professional services. More than ten years in the region, and relationships with government officials, industry people and operators that don't show up in any database.

Sometimes the answer is go. Sometimes it's wait. Sometimes it's don't waste your money. Clients who hire me expecting confirmation occasionally get the third one. All three are worth paying for.

Get in touch

Tell me what's on the table. Send a note, or start a conversation directly — I'll come back with whether a sprint makes sense, what scope would fit, and a price.