How we work
A number before we start, a demo every week, and nothing you cannot walk away with.
The same four steps for every project. The shape of the work is what makes a fixed price possible, and it is what lets you use the system in week two instead of month six.
01
A conversation
Free · 45 minutes
On a call or in Amsterdam. You describe how the work runs today and where it breaks; we ask a lot of questions. Then we say honestly whether custom software is the right answer — it often is not, and when it is not we will tell you what to buy instead.
What you have at the end
- An honest answer on whether custom software is the right move
- If it is not: what to buy instead
- If it is: a proposal for a discovery sprint, with the price on it
02
Discovery sprint
1–2 weeks · fixed price
We map the process as it actually runs, write the scope in plain language — including what is deliberately left out — and build a clickable prototype you can put in front of your team. You leave with a fixed quote and a week-by-week plan. Both are yours to take to anyone.
What you have at the end
- The process, mapped, as it actually runs
- The scope in plain language, with what is deliberately left out
- A clickable prototype you can show your team
- A fixed quote and a week-by-week plan, yours to take anywhere
03
Build in weekly slices
6–14 weeks · fixed scope
Every week something is demoed and deployed to your environment. You use the system from the second week, on real data as soon as that is safe, so the thing that is wrong in week three is found in week three rather than at launch. Changes to scope are a conversation, and they are priced before they are built.
What you have at the end
- A demo every Friday, and a written note of what changed
- Deployed to your environment from week two
- Real data as soon as it is safe to
- Changes priced before they are built
04
Launch, then stay
Ongoing · optional
Hand-over is documentation, access and a walkthrough. The code is in your GitHub, the infrastructure in your cloud account, and another developer could take it from there. Or you keep us on for a fixed number of days a month, with the same people, and stop at the end of any month.
What you have at the end
- Documentation, access and a walkthrough
- Everything in your GitHub and your cloud account
- Optionally, a fixed number of days a month from the same people
- Cancel monthly
Inside a build week
What a week looks like from your side
Monday
Plan the slice
Thirty minutes with you: what ships this week, and what it displaces if something has to move.
Every day
Deploys, not drops
Work goes to your environment as it is finished, behind a flag if it is not ready for the team yet.
Friday
Demo, in your system
A live walkthrough of what changed, and a written note you can forward to whoever was not there.
Your time in a build week is about an hour. That is deliberate: the project should not need a second job from you, but it does need you on Friday, because the demo is where the thing that is wrong gets found.
Principles
What we believe about software
Each of these is a specific project that went badly for somebody, once.
Fewer moving parts beats more features
Anything that has to be kept in step by a background job will eventually be out of step. So we derive rather than sync, we choose boring infrastructure, and we say no to the feature that needs a second system to stay correct.
The person you talk to writes the code
There is no account manager translating between you and the work. That is slower to scale and faster at everything else, and it is why we take on a handful of projects a year rather than as many as we can.
You own everything, from the first commit
Code in your GitHub organisation, infrastructure in your cloud account, documentation written for whoever comes next. If the day comes that you want to leave, the exit should be boring.
Say what it does not do
There is a section on the services page listing what we do not build, and the first call ends with a straight answer on whether custom software is the right move. Finding that out in month three is worse for everyone.
Start with the free conversation
Forty-five minutes. Bring the spreadsheet. You will leave with an honest answer on whether this is worth doing, and if it is, a price for finding out exactly what.
One working day to a reply · fixed quotes · you own the code