Every project we've delivered has gone throughthe same four phases. What changes is the duration, not the order.Here's what each one actually looks like from the client side of the table.
02 / THE FOUR PHASES
What each phase actually looks like.
01 — phase
Decode.
USUALLY A WEEK. SOMETIMES TWO.
We sit with your idea until it stops being vague. You walk us through what you think the product is, who it's for, and what already exists. We push back where we have to.
A 60–90 min working session
Not a sales call. The founder and a senior engineer are in the room with you.
A written summary, by Friday
Our read of what you're building, where we agree, where we'd argue, and what we don't know yet.
A short list of open questions
Things we can't decide for you. We don't pretend we can.
✱ If we decide we shouldn't take the project, you hear it at the end of this phase — not after a contract is signed.
02 — phase
Scope.
ONE WEEK. THEN IT'S SIGNED.
We commit to what goes live, when, and what doesn't. Scope is itemised and the date is fixed. Anything ambiguous gets called out as a Phase-2 instead of being quietly absorbed.
An itemised scope document
Every feature listed, with a sentence each on what it covers and what it doesn't.
A delivery date
One date. We don't quote a range and we don't say 'sprint 1, sprint 2'. We say August 14th.
An explicit exclusions list
What we are not building. Most disputes downstream come from things that weren't in v1 but felt implied — so we say them out loud.
A simple contract
Plain English, three pages. IP transfers on final payment. NDA already signed.
✱ If we can't hit the date you need, we'll say it before the contract — and we'll suggest cuts that get there.
03 — phase
Build.
THE LONGEST PHASE. USUALLY 60–80% OF THE TIMELINE.
Weekly demos. No black box. You see it grow. Every Monday a 4-minute Loom of what went live last week. Every Friday a build goes out, with release notes a human can read.
A Slack channel
Founder + the engineers building. We answer within an hour, usually faster.
A Monday demo recording
Loom under four minutes. What went live. What's next. What's stuck.
A Friday release note
What just went live, written so a non-technical reader can follow it.
A decision log
Plain-English record of what we chose and why, so the trade-offs don't get re-litigated three months in.
✱ If we hit a wall, you hear about it that day — not at the next scheduled call. Pretending things are fine is how projects miss dates.
04 — phase
Deliver.
ON THE DATE WE SAID.
On the date. Not three months later. Production deploy with you in the room. Two weeks of paid attention after launch to fix the things that always emerge once real users are inside.
Production deploy, jointly
You and a senior engineer on a call. Real users start in. We watch the dashboards together.
A two-week stabilisation window
Included. Bug-fix only. We're paying attention even when there's nothing to fix.
Handover, written down
Architecture, credentials, runbook. Everything your next engineer needs.
A founder phone number
For when the production thing breaks at 2am. We answer.
✱ After the window, we stay reachable. We won't ghost you — but we also won't pretend the project is open if it isn't.
03 / START THE FIRST PHASE
Let's decode your vague thing.
We'll sit with it for a week.By Friday you'll have a written read of what you're actually building.