Engagement
8–14 weeks
Services/02
First
versions..
A first version of your product, built by someone who's done it before. Not a clickable prototype, not a no-code stitch-up — real software, deployed, that actual users can use. Designed to be the foundation you keep building on, not the one you throw away in six months.
— Overview
Most founders I talk to don't need a co-founder, an agency, or a six-month discovery phase. They need someone who can take what's in their head and turn it into something live, this quarter, without an MBA presentation about it.
I work with one founder at a time. We agree on the smallest version of the idea that's actually worth shipping — not the demo version, not the pitch-deck version, the real-thing version. Then I build it. You see progress every week. You use it before users do.
What you end up with is software you understand, that you can hand to a future engineering hire, that doesn't have my name baked into it. No "rebuild from scratch in year two" tax.
How it goes.
— How it goes01
Frame
A few conversations to find the shape of v1. What's in, what's out, what's a maybe-someday. The hardest part of a first version is what you leave out.
02
Foundation
Boring shipped first: data model, auth, deployment, a working skeleton you can log into. Nothing pretty yet — but everything real.
03
Form
The product takes shape. Weekly preview links. You click around, find the things you didn't know you wanted, we course-correct.
04
Ship
Live to real users. Bugs found, bugs fixed. Handoff document for whoever picks it up next — including you, if 'you' is who picks it up.
What you get.
— Deliverables01Software, live and usedDeployed, monitored, with real users able to sign up. Not a Figma walkthrough, not a Loom of a localhost.
02A codebase a CTO would respectTyped where it matters, tested where it matters, documented in the places that aren't obvious. The kind of repo your future first hire will be glad to inherit.
03Founder-readable handoffA README in plain language, an architecture sketch, and a 60-minute walkthrough call. You'll know how the thing works — not just that it works.
04Source code and infrastructure, yours from day oneRepository, hosting accounts, domain, dependencies — all in your name from the start. No vendor-unwind project later.
TypeScriptFlutterLaravelExpressPostgreSQLWebMobile
"The first version isn't the one you launch. It's the one you'd be willing to launch."— Operating principle, Iruoy
Common questions.
— FAQWill you take equity instead of payment?
No. Equity-for-build deals look attractive on paper but rarely work out for either side — if the company doesn't make it, I built your product for free; if it does, you paid more for it than you needed to. I'd rather be the engineer you hired than the engineer you owe something to. Cash, fixed scope, clean handoff.
Can we add features as we go?
Yes — with structure. Anything inside the original scope is part of the project. Anything genuinely new gets a fresh small quote so we both know what we're agreeing to. Founders almost always have new ideas mid-build, and that's usually a good sign — but a structured way of handling them is what keeps the project actually finishing.
What happens after launch — will you keep building it?
For a few months, yes. Bug fixes and small features at an hourly rate, no retainer, no minimum. As the product grows past what evenings can support, you'll want a full-time engineer — and I'll help you find and onboard them when that point comes. The goal is for you to outgrow me on good terms, not to be stuck depending on me.
What if my idea changes during the build?
Small pivots are normal — the whole point of building real software early is to learn what's actually true. We adjust as we go. Big pivots — the kind where the product is genuinely a different product — mean we pause, talk it through, and write a new agreement. I'd rather have an honest conversation in week 4 than an awkward one in week 12.
Do you do design too?
I'll get the UI to a place you'd be happy to show users — clean, well-laid-out, built on solid foundations like Tailwind or design systems I trust. What I'm not is an original brand or visual designer. For logos, identity, illustration, or marketing-site polish, I'll bring in someone I've shipped with before, or work alongside a designer you already have.