Exactly this. Intermediate shippables are derisking. There are a few things that this strategy represents to executives:

- "You have already received benefit X for your investment in our team, and X has been well worth it. Continued investment in us will yield benefit Y."

- "Even if the project is terminated early, or later stages become blocked due to business or technical impracticalities, the company will have gained a tangible benefit already in the form of X. There is a payout, even if it is not the full thing we wanted."

- "The intermediate products validate the technology/product/business model, such that every incremental deliverable means an overall reduction in risk to the final goal."