Talk it through

Who’s going to build it? We will, once it’s clear what to build.

A senior team builds the first version of a product, an internal tool, or the platform underneath both. How long it takes depends on the scope, and we agree it before the build starts. We plan who carries it from the first week.

Length
Set by the scope, and agreed before each phase starts
Price
Fixed for each phase, quoted from the design
You leave with
Working software in use, and a team or partner ready to carry it.

When to bring us in

The plan is ready. The team isn’t.

Delivery fits when the thinking is done, by us or by you, and what’s missing is the people to build it well and fast.

  • We know what we need.
    We don’t have the team to build it.
  • We have the designs,
    and need someone to make them real.
  • The date can’t move,
    and the list keeps growing.
  • Our last build took a year,
    and nobody uses it.

How it runs

Built in phases, each with a fixed price.

Each phase has a fixed scope, agreed before it starts. The first one ends with software people use, not a demo.

  1. Before the price

    01

    Settle the scope

    We read the design with you and cut the first version to what adds value now. What isn’t needed yet waits, and so does its bill.

    The scope and the price
  2. Set by the scope

    02

    Build

    Short cycles, with working software to try every week, on the devices and connections your users really have.

    Working software, weekly
  3. End of the phase

    03

    Launch

    It goes live with the people it’s for, and we stay close while it settles. Real use finds what testing missed.

    The first version, in use
  4. Then

    04

    Hand it on

    To your team, a partner, or us, to run and grow. We plan who carries it from the first week, so the handover isn’t a scramble.

    The next phase, if there is one

You leave with

Built for the people who run it next.

The first version is a start. Everything about it is built for whoever runs it after launch, whether that’s your team, a partner, or us.

  1. Working software, in use

    Live with real users, on the devices and connections they really have.

  2. Only what’s needed

    The first version cut to what adds value now, with the rest written down for later, not built and paid for in advance.

  3. A running bill sized to the business

    Choices that keep hosting and upkeep small, because every account, server, and service you don’t need is one you don’t pay for.

  4. Code the next team can read

    Plainly written, with the decisions behind it written down, so nobody has to guess why it’s built the way it is.

  5. Someone to carry it

    A team or partner briefed before launch to run it and grow it. If that’s us, we host it and keep it healthy.

What it isn’t: a team you rent by the hour, or a build with no end date.

Where we’ve done this

Live in months, not a year.

Two first versions in real use, one 60 days from sign-off, and one 90 days from the first meeting about the idea.

A consultant at a wooden desk by a loft window, reading his Mainsail offer report on his laptop, a notebook and coffee beside him

Business launch platform · With Openfin · 2026

They asked for a system to help people launch a business.Customers needed a person checking the AI's work.

Read the case study: Mainsail

How it starts

Most builds start with a design.

If the thinking isn’t done yet, we do it first, so the build is quoted from a settled scope. If it is done, bring it.

  1. First

    A conversation

    Bring the question you can’t quite phrase yet. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll say so, and point you to who is.

    Not a pitch

  2. Then

    Strategy evaluation

    Two weeks on the plan, the product, or the AI idea. You get a recommendation, the trade-offs behind it, and what not to build.

    Two weeks · $7,500 fixed

  3. Once the design is settled

    Delivery

    The build on this page, in fixed phases, each one quoted before it starts.

    Fixed scope, in phases This page

Already have a design you trust? Bring it, and we can start with the build.

Questions

Fair questions.

We already have designs. Can we start with the build?

Yes. We’ll read them with you first and quote from them. If something important is missing, we’ll say so before the price is set, not after.

Why phases, and not one price for everything?

Because the first version teaches you what the second should be. Each phase is fixed before it starts, so you always know what it costs, and you can stop between them.

Can you work with our engineers?

Yes. They know corners of the business no one else does, and building alongside them is often the best handover there is.

Can our own team take it over?

Yes. Your agreement gives you the right to run it, change it, and build on it, and it’s written so your engineers, or another firm, can pick it up.

What happens after launch?

Your team carries it, a partner does, or we host it and keep it healthy. We agree which before the build starts, so nobody is left holding it.

Services

Three other ways in.

Each starts with the problem you can see.

Strategy evaluation

Not sure where to start?

Two weeks · $7,500 fixedHow it works

01Systems architecture

How should it all fit together?

Six weeks · fixed priceHow it works

03Fractional CTO

Who’s making the technical calls?

Two quarters, then reviewHow it works

Talk it through

Bring the question you can’t quite phrase yet.

That’s usually the right place to start.
A conversation, not a pitch. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll say so, and point you to who is.