Align, build, sustain.
A working relationship has obligations on both sides, and most of the ones that matter are never written down. These are ours, and the ones we will ask of you — agreed before a contract, not discovered during one.
- Stages
- Three, in order
- Engagement shapes
- 4 options
- Notice period
- 30 days, either side
Three stages, and the obligations in each.
The right-hand columns are the part most agreements leave out. Both lists are short on purpose — a commitment nobody can remember is not a commitment.
- 01
Align
Agree what good looks like.
We define the outcome in terms you would recognise on a dashboard, not in features. Then we agree who decides what, how fast we expect answers from each side, and what happens when we disagree.
What we commit to
- Written scope with risks
- Fixed price on milestone one
- A weekly slot in the calendar
What we ask of you
- A named decision-maker
- Access to the people who use the system
- Answers within two working days
- 02
Build
Ship in weekly increments, in public.
Working software every week, in an environment you can open. Your engineers review our pull requests if you have engineers. The board is open, the estimates are current, and bad news travels the same week it happens.
What we commit to
- Working increment every week
- Open board and repository
- Same-week notice on any slip
What we ask of you
- Attend the weekly demo
- Review decisions we flag
- Say no early when something is wrong
- 03
Sustain
Hand over, then stay reachable.
Your team takes the wheel while we review. After that, a retainer if you want one — a fixed number of hours a month for review, on-call escalation, and the work that keeps a system healthy. Cancel it whenever you like.
What we commit to
- Documentation and recorded walkthrough
- Review period with your team driving
- Monthly retainer, cancellable
What we ask of you
- Nominate the engineers who take it on
- Decide on a retainer, or not
Four shapes, and which problem each one fits.
Ranges are wide on purpose. A narrow number before discovery would be a guess dressed as a quote.
Discovery
FixedDuration · 2 weeks
We read the system, talk to your people, and write the scope. Ends with a milestone price and a risk list. Standalone — you can take the document and build elsewhere.
Best when · You need to know what this really costs before committing.
Build
MilestoneDuration · 6–16 weeks
A defined product or subsystem, taken to production. Priced per milestone, invoiced on delivery of each. Weekly demos throughout.
Best when · You have a scope and want it built and handed over.
Embedded
MonthlyDuration · 3–12 months
We join your team at an agreed capacity — your board, your standups, your review process. Useful when the roadmap is genuinely uncertain and a fixed scope would be a fiction.
Best when · You need senior capacity, not a fixed deliverable.
Retainer
MonthlyDuration · Rolling
A fixed block of hours for review, escalation, upgrades, and the maintenance nobody schedules. Cancellable with 30 days' notice.
Best when · Your team owns the system and wants senior review on call.
What referral partners actually earn.
Agencies, consultants, and fractional CTOs bring us engineering work and take a share of it. Rather than describe the outcome, here is the plotted line.
How it works
- You introduce a client with a real engineering problem. No qualification paperwork.
- We scope it. You are copied on everything, or left out of it — your call.
- If it proceeds, you take an agreed share of the engagement for its lifetime, including renewals.
- You keep the client relationship. We are the engineering team, not the account owner.
What we will not do
- Approach your client directly about work outside the engagement.
- Ask you to mark up our rate without telling the client a margin exists.
- Hold a partnership open that is not producing anything — we will close it and say why.
- Publish your client's name anywhere without written permission from them.
Bring us one problem and see how it goes.
No agreement required to start. Introduce one project, watch how we scope it, and decide afterwards whether you want a standing arrangement. Reply within one business day.