Five steps · short cycles · visible checkpoints

How we actually run a project.

No six-month discovery theatre. No gated waterfalls. Five named steps with visible outputs at each. If something isn't working by step three, we'd rather tell you than quietly keep billing.

The five steps

Intake → spec → build → launch → operate.

Every engagement follows the same shape, whether it's a $149 Patch & Fix or a $12,999 Vertical Agent. The depth varies; the order doesn't.

01 · INTAKE
Scope in 30 min
Free call. We map the problem, confirm the inputs exist, and tell you honestly whether we're the right shop — sometimes we aren't.
02 · SPEC
One-page plan
Short written spec — goal, deliverables, stack, success criteria, ceiling, timeline, what's out of scope. Your sign-off starts the clock.
03 · BUILD
Private preview
Short cycles. Async daily or every-other-day updates. Preview URL by mid-sprint. You can see traces, evals and CI runs live.
04 · LAUNCH
Gated rollout
Shadow mode → staged traffic → 100%. Kill-switch wired in. Human-in-the-loop gates on anything expensive or customer-facing.
05 · OPERATE
Retainer or handover
Clean handover to your team, or a retainer so we keep it tuned. Either way, you get full docs and a runbook.
Step 01 · Intake

What happens in the first 30 minutes.

Intake is not a sales call. We ask the questions we need to give you a useful answer. You leave with a recommendation, a ballpark, or a clean "we're not the right fit" — not a follow-up drip sequence.

Step 02 · Spec

One-page spec, 48 hours.

We don't do 40-page proposals. We do a tight one-pager that fits on a phone screen. Every project has one. It's the contract; anything else you hear from us has to match it.

Contents Goal · Deliverables · Explicit non-goals · Stack · Success criteria · Ceiling and timeline · Payment schedule · Agreed channels and response times · Change-request process.
Step 03 · Build

Short cycles, visible progress.

Step 04 · Launch

Gated rollouts, not big-bang releases.

Especially for agents — but the shape applies to any real system with users. We ship in stages so a bug never meets more than a manageable slice of your traffic.

Step 05 · Operate

Handover — or retainer.

You choose. We won't try to tether you to us.

Handover includes README, runbook, architecture diagram, known issues, pending TODOs, list of every secret in every vault, first two weeks of questions answered for free. If you decide you'd rather we keep running it, any retainer tier is a one-click upgrade.

Ready to start step one?

30 minutes. You don't need a brief. Just tell us what's broken or what you want to ship.