Professional services
Software development for startups, built to survive being right
A first product delivered quickly, without the shortcuts that make version two a rewrite — because the expensive failure is not building slowly, it is succeeding on foundations that cannot take it.
The situation
Two ways a first build goes wrong
Over-engineering a product nobody has validated wastes runway. Under-engineering one that works means rebuilding at exactly the moment you cannot afford to stop.
- A prototype that has quietly become the production system
- No idea what it would cost to support ten times the users
- An offshore build nobody remaining can maintain
- A technical decision made by whoever was available at the time
- Investors asking questions about the technology you cannot answer
- Every new feature taking longer than the last
What it covers
What we do for early-stage products
Scoping the first version
Establishing the smallest build that genuinely tests the assumption, which is usually smaller than the founder's list.
Architecture proportionate to stage
Structured for the next eighteen months, not for a scale you have not reached. Both directions cost money.
Build
Delivered in increments you can demonstrate to customers and investors while it is still being built.
Deployment and operations
A reliable release path from the start, because a startup that cannot ship quickly has lost its main advantage.
Handover to your team
Documentation and structure written for the developers you will hire, since that is the intended destination.
Technical due diligence support
Being able to answer investor questions about architecture, security and dependencies with evidence.
How we work
How a startup engagement runs
Fast, but not disposable. The aim is a product that can be handed to your own team without them wanting to start again.
Sharpen the scope
Work out what actually has to exist to test the assumption, and what can wait. This conversation usually saves the most money.
Build the core
Deliver the smallest genuinely useful version, in increments you can show to real users.
Learn and adjust
Change direction based on what users do rather than what the original plan said.
Hand over
Transfer to your team when you are ready to hire, with documentation written for people who have not met us.
Outcomes
What you are left with
- A working product in front of real users sooner
- Foundations that will not force a rewrite if it succeeds
- Code and infrastructure in your own accounts
- Documentation written for the team you intend to hire
- Evidence to answer technical due diligence
- A release process fast enough to keep iterating
Platforms and tooling
What we build with
Product
- React
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- React Native
- Node.js
- Python
Data
- PostgreSQL
- Redis
- Managed databases
Platform
- Azure
- AWS
- Docker
- CI/CD
- Monitoring
Named as platforms we work with, not as formal partnerships.
Common questions
Questions we are usually asked
It depends entirely on scope, and the scoping conversation usually reduces it more than any technical decision does. Founders' first lists are typically two or three times larger than what is needed to test the actual assumption.
There are cheaper hourly rates available, and sometimes that is the right trade. What is worth costing honestly is the total: a first build that cannot be maintained is not cheap, it is deferred, and it comes due at the worst moment.
You probably will, and the build should assume it. Working in increments exists precisely so that changing direction costs a sprint rather than the project.
Entirely, and it should sit in your repositories and your cloud accounts from the first day rather than being transferred at the end. Investors will ask, and the answer should be simple.
No, and that is a fair thing to check before starting. The handover point is planned into the engagement, because most founders intend to bring development in-house once funding allows.
Generally not. Building for a million users you do not have burns runway on a problem you may never face. Building so that scaling later is possible — rather than building the scale itself — is the balance worth paying for.
Talk to someone who has built this
Not a salesperson working from a form. Tell us what the problem looks like and someone who has delivered this kind of work will come back to you, usually within one working day.
Book a free consultationRelated
Where this usually connects
- Web application developmentBrowser-based applications for work that outgrew a spreadsheet.
- Mobile app developmentiOS and Android apps connected to the systems behind them.
- Agile and DevOpsShorter release cycles and a build pipeline you can rely on.
- Cloud servicesMoving to cloud, or making an existing cloud estate behave.
- APIs and microservicesConnecting platforms that were never designed to be connected.
- Application development and maintenanceBuilding it, then keeping it running and current.