The right engagement depends on where the uncertainty sits. If you do not
know what to build, buying a build team is expensive. If you know exactly
what to build, paying for discovery is waste. Start where your actual risk
is.
Discovery Sprint
Deciding what to build, before committing a budget to building it
A short, fixed-scope investigation that turns an ambiguous problem into a plan you could hand to any competent team — including one that is not us.
Typical duration
1–2 weeks
Commitment
Fixed scope, fixed fee
Includes
Stakeholder and user interviews
Technical constraint and risk analysis
Architecture options with trade-offs stated
Scoped delivery plan with sequencing
Written recommendation, including "do not build this" where that is the answer
Fee agreed after scoping. No commitment to that conversation.
Most common
Build Cycle
Getting a defined product or feature set shipped to production
A dedicated senior team working in two-week cycles against an agreed outcome. You see working software at the end of every cycle and can change direction between them.
Typical duration
From 6 weeks
Commitment
Rolling, cycle by cycle
Includes
A senior team sized to the work
Two-week cycles with a working demo at the end of each
Direct access to the engineers building it — no account layer
Your repositories, your CI, your review process
Production readiness and handover built into the plan
Fee agreed after scoping. No commitment to that conversation.
Technical Audit
Understanding a system you have inherited, acquired or lost track of
An independent read of a codebase and its infrastructure: what is actually there, what is at risk, and what it will take to fix. Useful before an investment, an acquisition or a rebuild decision.
Typical duration
1–3 weeks
Commitment
Fixed scope, fixed fee
Includes
Codebase, architecture and dependency review
Infrastructure, deployment and security posture
Test coverage and release-process assessment
Key-person and knowledge-concentration risk
Findings ranked by risk against remediation effort
Fee agreed after scoping. No commitment to that conversation.
Side by side
Comparison of engagement models
Engagement
Best for
Duration
Commitment
Discovery Sprint
Deciding what to build, before committing a budget to building it
1–2 weeks
Fixed scope, fixed fee
Build Cycle
Getting a defined product or feature set shipped to production
From 6 weeks
Rolling, cycle by cycle
Technical Audit
Understanding a system you have inherited, acquired or lost track of
1–3 weeks
Fixed scope, fixed fee
Embedded Team
Adding sustained senior capacity to a team that already knows where it is going
Monthly, rolling
30 days notice, either side
On price
We charge for time, not for seats or licences, and we tell you the rate
before you decide anything. Fixed-scope work — discovery sprints and
audits — is quoted as a fixed fee so there is no meter running. Build
cycles and embedded work are quoted per cycle or per month against a
team you have agreed to.
What we will not do is quote a number before we understand the problem.
It is the fastest way for both sides to end up in an argument three
months later.
Common questions
Why is there no pricing on this page?
Because any number we printed would be a guess, and you would reasonably hold us to it. Cost follows scope, and scope follows a conversation. We give a firm figure once we understand what the work actually is — usually within a few days of first contact, and always before you commit to anything.
How quickly can you start?
Discovery sprints and audits can usually begin within a couple of weeks. Build cycles depend on current commitments — we would rather tell you a real start date than take the work and under-resource it.
Do we have to start with a discovery sprint?
No. If the work is already well defined and you know what you need, we can go straight to a build cycle. Discovery exists for the cases where the problem is still fuzzy, and it is a lot cheaper than discovering the same things halfway through a build.
What if we want to stop?
Build cycles are decided cycle by cycle, and embedded team arrangements run on 30 days notice from either side. Nothing is locked in for a year. If it is not working, saying so early is better for everyone.
Do you work with companies outside the UK?
Yes. We work remotely by default and have run engagements across several time zones. We will be honest about how much overlap a given arrangement realistically gives you before we agree to it.
Can you sign our NDA and security paperwork?
Yes. NDAs, DPAs and standard security questionnaires are routine. If your procurement process needs something specific, send it over early so it does not become the thing that delays a start date.
Next step
Still not sure which one?
Describe the situation and we will tell you which of these we would recommend — including if the answer is none of them.