For startups
Working with us as a startup: scoped to your runway, not our rate card
Startup builds fail in predictable ways: scope that outgrows the budget, a founder who becomes the bottleneck, and code nobody else can take over. This is how the engagement is set up to avoid all three.
The people
Who is involved, on both sides
On your side
Usually one founder, who makes the product calls and signs off each milestone. If you have a technical co-founder or an advisor, we bring them into architecture decisions and code reviews early, not at the end.
On ours
One lead who owns delivery and is your single point of contact, plus the engineers writing your product. You talk to the people doing the work, not an account manager passing messages along.
Decisions
How decisions get made when the plan will change
Startups change their minds, and they should. So we don’t write a hundred-page specification that pretends otherwise. We fix the scope of the first milestone only, list in writing what is deliberately left out, and keep everything else in a backlog you can reorder at any time.
Decisions happen in one weekly 30-minute call and in writing in between. When something blocks the build you hear about it from us, with the options and what each costs in time and money. You don’t find out at the next demo. Scope can change; each change is priced before it starts, so your budget never moves silently.
Contract and payment
The shape of the deal
- Package
- Most startup builds are Growth projects ($2,000–$8,000). A focused proof of concept can fit Starter ($500–$1,500).
- Payment
- Growth projects are paid 30% upfront, 40% at the agreed mid-point milestone, 30% on delivery, so you never pay far ahead of what you can see working.
- Ownership
- Code, cloud accounts and IP transfer to you on final payment. Investors’ technical due diligence finds everything in your name.
- Confidentiality
- We sign your NDA before you share the idea in detail.
These are plain-English summaries. Your signed contract governs, and all terms are confirmed in writing for each project.
Honest risks
What usually goes wrong, and what we do about it
These are the failures we plan for, each paired with the thing we do to stop it happening.
The MVP keeps growing until it isn’t minimal any more.
The first release is fixed to the one workflow users will pay for. Everything else goes on a written “later” list, so nothing is lost, just scheduled.
The founder becomes the bottleneck.
Questions are batched for the weekly call, with written options in between, so the build doesn’t stall while you’re fundraising or selling.
AI running costs surprise you after launch.
Cost per user is tracked from the first demo, so you set prices with real numbers instead of guesses.
Nobody can take over the code.
Documented architecture, readable code and a handover session mean your first engineering hire can carry on without us.
The first 30 days
What happens after you say yes
The first month runs to a fixed shape: here is each stage, and what you get at the end of it.
Days 1–3
Kick-off
We confirm the first-release scope, set up repositories and cloud accounts in your name, and agree the demo dates.
Week 1
Design and a technical spike
Screens for the core workflow, plus a small experiment that proves the AI part works on your real examples before the big spend.
Weeks 2–3
First working version
A clickable build on a private staging link. You try it yourself and send feedback in writing.
Day 30
Milestone review
What is done, what is next, and whether the plan still matches what you’re learning from users.
Where to go next
Build
When to build custom, and what a finished MVP looks like.
Custom AI apps & SaaS
What goes into an MVP and how the build runs.
Growth package
$2,000–$8,000.
Tell us what you’re building
We reply within 24 hours on weekdays, and after a free call you get a written plan, timeline and fixed quote.