Read, shape, build, run.
This is how we run our own products and it is how we run client work. It is written down so you can hold us to it.
- 01
Read
You send a page. We read it, look at whatever exists (a codebase, a deck, a competitor), and reply with questions. If it is not a fit we say so here, and try to point you somewhere better.
- 02
Shape
A short paid engagement to turn the idea into a written scope: what it does, what it explicitly does not do, the data model, the risky parts, and a sequence. You leave with a document you could hand to anyone. Most people hand it back to us.
- 03
Build
Small team, weekly demos on a real URL, a written note every Friday. The first deploy happens in the first week, not the last. Billing, auth, admin and monitoring are built early because they are where launches slip.
- 04
Run
Either we hand over with a runbook and a recorded walkthrough, or we keep operating it under a monthly agreement, the way we run our own products. Both are quoted up front so the choice is yours, not a surprise.
House rules
The things we do on every project, whether or not anyone asks.
- Written before built
- Every engagement starts with a document. If we cannot describe it in a page, we are not ready to quote it.
- Your repo, your cloud
- Code lives in your repository and your accounts from the first commit. There is nothing to migrate at the end.
- A real URL from week one
- Progress is something you can click, with real data, not a slide about progress.
- Friday notes
- A short written update every week: what shipped, what did not, what we need from you. It is the same note we write for our own products.
- We say no early
- If a feature is a bad idea, or a deadline is not real, we say it in the shaping stage while it is cheap.
- Boring where it matters
- Postgres, Next.js, Cloudflare, Stripe. We reserve novelty for the parts of your product that are actually novel.
What we need from you
One person who can make decisions and answer a question within a day. A written page about what you want, even a rough one. Access to whatever exists. Honest numbers about budget and timing, so the plan can be honest too.
What you do not need: a full specification, a designer on your side, or a technical co-founder. Shaping exists to produce those things.
Start with a page.
Describe what you want built and who it is for. We read everything that comes in and reply within two business days.