MVP Development

Your first release, built and launched. One team, one fixed quote.

For founders launching a product and product teams that need a team to deliver a release: we own it from scope through launch, in accounts you own. A fixed quote after a free scoping call, paid in three milestone stages.

  • Start with a $500 Scope Sprint, credited in full
  • 40 / 30 / 30 milestone payments
  • 30 days of defect fixes

A first release does one journey well

We agree the one journey that must work end to end. Everything else waits for version two.

  1. Customer portal

    1. 1Customer signs in
    2. 2Submits a request
    3. 3Sees its status
  2. SaaS tool

    1. 1User creates an account
    2. 2Does the main task
    3. 3Saves the result
  3. AI application

    1. 1User submits information
    2. 2Gets a checked AI output
    3. 3Reviews and keeps it
  4. Mobile booking app

    1. 1User selects a service
    2. 2Books a time
    3. 3Gets a confirmation

Example scopeIllustrative, not a client project

Customer portal, first release

The kind of focused first release we quote for.

Primary journey
A customer signs in, submits a service request and sees its status
Supporting workflows
  • Staff see and update requests in an admin view
  • An email when a request changes status
  • Google or email sign-in
Left for later
  • Payments
  • Native mobile app
  • Importing old requests

Every build includes

  • One primary user journey, with its supporting workflows listed in the scope
  • UX for the core journey
  • Frontend, backend and the data storage it needs
  • Sign-in and permissions where the product needs them
  • The integrations listed in the scope
  • Tests on the agreed critical paths
  • Deployed in accounts you own
  • Error monitoring and handover documentation
  • 30 days of defect fixes after launch

Priced by scope

Included when the scope lists them, and quoted for.

  • Payments and billing
  • AI features
  • Native mobile apps
  • Data migration
  • Complex or custom integrations

Built on proven services

We pick the provider that fits your journey, accounts and region. The scope names each one and its expected monthly cost, in your accounts.

In every build, where needed

  • Sign-in and data

    Users sign in and see only their own organisation and records.

    • SupabaseSupabase
    • ClerkClerk
    • PostgreSQLPostgreSQL
  • Error monitoring

    A failure after launch is seen and traced, not reported by a customer first.

    • SentrySentry

Added when the scope lists it

  • Billing

    A user subscribes, gets the right access and can manage the plan.

    • StripeStripe
    • PaddlePaddle
    • RevenueCatRevenueCat
  • Transactional email

    Request, status and completion emails arrive, with a path when sending fails.

    • ResendResend
    • Postmark
  • Product analytics

    You see whether users reach the first useful result and come back.

    • PostHogPostHog
  • AI, checked

    A user gets a checked draft, reviews it and keeps the result.

    • OpenAIOpenAI
    • ClaudeClaude
    • GeminiGemini
  • Background jobs

    Long imports, documents or AI jobs finish with visible progress and recovery.

    • Inngest
    • Trigger.dev
  • Customer connections

    A customer connects their own account and the product does a useful task with it.

    • Nango

Acceptance checklistIllustrative; your scope lists the real checks

How a release is signed off

Core journey
A representative user completes the agreed job and sees the saved result.
Permissions
Users reach only their own data and actions, and a rejected access attempt is shown.
Messages
The right status message is sent once, and a failed send has a recovery path.
Billing, if included
A confirmed payment gives the right access; failed payments, cancellations and repeated events behave correctly.
AI, if included
Agreed examples meet their criteria, and invalid or uncertain output is handled.
Handover
Accounts, deployments, access, backups, monitoring and expected monthly running costs are documented, all in your name.

Delivered work · LadyLight

An AI coaching and marketing platform, its backend and AI features built by our team

Our team built the platform’s backend and AI features, then stayed on to run it on retainer.

See the full project

Before you reach out

Is this right for you?

MVP Build is for a new product with a clear first job to do, and someone on your side who can make decisions.

Yes, this is for you

  • Founders and teams who need the whole first release delivered, not individual developers to manage
  • A customer portal, SaaS tool, web or mobile app, or AI application with one core journey
  • A pilot, launch or customer date the release has to meet
  • Someone on your side who can make product decisions within a few days

Not this. Go here instead

Fixed quote, milestone payments

Every first release gets its own fixed quote, confirmed in writing after scoping. There is no standard price; the factors that move it are listed below.

Scoping call

Free

Is a first release the right next step?

  • 30-minute callYour product, users and deadline
  • Straightforward productsGet a written scope and fixed quote at no cost
Best way to start

Scope Sprint

$500fixed · credited in full

Define what your first release should include before committing to development. The documents are yours to keep, even if you decide not to proceed.

Choose this when your product needs deeper discovery before it can be quoted. Straightforward products get a free written quote instead.

  • Core journey, included features and exclusionsWhat version one does, and what waits
  • Integration dependencies and acceptance criteriaWhat “done” means, before money is committed
  • Build plan, timeline and a fixed build quoteA clear decision: go ahead, change the scope, or stop
  • Ready in 3–5 business daysAfter we receive the information we need; paid upfront once deliverables are agreed
  • $500 credited once against the buildDeducted in full from the total build price if you go ahead

First release build

Fixed quoteafter scoping

Confirmed in writing before the build starts. What moves the price:

  • Complexity of the primary journey and its supporting workflowsHow much the release has to do
  • IntegrationsEach external system the product must talk to
  • AI featuresWhether AI is central, and how it is checked
  • Web only, or web and mobileNative apps add a second delivery track

How you pay

  1. 0140%

    When the scope is approved, before the build starts

  2. 0230%

    When the core journey is demonstrated on staging

  3. 0330%

    After production deployment and handover, with an agreed acceptance review window before launch

  • You own the code, designs, documentation and the accounts it runs in
  • New features, changed requirements and third-party changes are scoped and quoted separately
  • Hosting, AI usage and third-party subscriptions are billed to your accounts, estimated during scoping
Full terms
  • The acceptance review window is agreed in the scope, so sign-off has a clear date
  • The schedule is confirmed in the approved scope; it assumes your decisions within agreed review times and third parties on time
  • The $500 Scope Sprint is credited once, in full, against the total build price
  • Extensive technical investigations, prototypes or detailed screen designs are quoted separately
  • Operating costs also include app-store developer accounts where the product needs them

What happens next

  1. 01Reply within 4 working hoursAnd we book a free 30-minute scoping call. Enquiries after hours are answered the next working morning (Pakistan time).
  2. 02Scoping callYour users, core journey, budget and launch date.
  3. 03Written scope and quoteFree for straightforward products, or a $500 Scope Sprint first (credited in full).

Scope → Design → Build → Verify → Launch

One delivery lead throughout, regular demos, and a decision point before each payment.

  1. 01Free, or a 3–5 day Scope Sprint

    Scope

    We fix the core journey, features, exclusions, dependencies, acceptance criteria, build plan and schedule in writing.

  2. 02Early build

    Design

    UX for the core journey, reviewed with you before the screens are engineered.

  3. 03Most of the timeline

    Build

    Frontend, backend and integrations, demoed regularly. The core journey is shown working on staging.

  4. 04Before launch

    Verify

    We test the agreed critical paths, then you review against the written acceptance criteria.

  5. 05+30 days

    Launch

    Deployed in your accounts with monitoring and handover. We fix defects for 30 days after launch.

Work we’ve delivered

Real projects, on screen.

Described as they happened.

01
Chess Rocket screens: Lichess play, Stockfish analysis and the puzzle rankingsChess Rocket screens: Lichess play, Stockfish analysis and the puzzle rankingsChess Rocket screens: Lichess play, Stockfish analysis and the puzzle rankings

EdTech · web and mobile

Chess Rocket

A chess-learning product on web, iOS and Android, delivered and released by our team

We owned delivery across web, iOS/Android, admin and backend: every feature shipped across all four codebases at once, store subscriptions fixed end to end, and releases moved to gated dev, pre-prod and production environments on Azure, with an onboarding handover.

Web, mobile, admin and backend · ongoing

“Took Chess Rocket from idea to live product, building puzzles, real-time play and community features that just work. Highly recommended.” 
Kenny Campbell · Chess Rocket

Before

  • Every feature had to land in four separate codebases
  • Store purchases did not unlock premium on Android or show on iOS
  • No separate environments; changes went straight to users

After

  • Weekly feature rounds shipped across web, mobile, admin and backend
  • Store subscriptions fixed end to end
  • Gated dev → pre-prod → production releases, with an onboarding handover
02
LadyLight screens: guided AI assistants, team access and the admin dashboardLadyLight screens: guided AI assistants, team access and the admin dashboardLadyLight screens: guided AI assistants, team access and the admin dashboard

AI platform · coaching and marketing

LadyLight

An AI coaching and marketing platform, its backend and AI features built by our team

We built the platform’s backend and AI features alongside the client, then stayed on to run it on retainer. A browser extension’s model calls moved behind a secure per-team backend, new GPT-builder features shipped, and server-side roles and error monitoring went in.

Build → retainer · ongoing

“Really happy with LadyLight. It looks great, works smoothly and you can tell a lot of care went into it. Great job!” 
LadyLight · Client review

Before

  • Model calls made straight from the browser
  • Prompt edits not reaching production

After

  • A per-team backend for every model call
  • Prompt changes live again, with monitoring in place

Who you’ll work with

One Octacer delivery lead runs your first release. You review demos and make the product decisions.

  1. Your delivery lead

    One contact from scope to launch.

  2. Coordinated disciplines

    Design, engineering and testing run as one team.

  3. Demo cadence

    Working progress to review, on an agreed rhythm.

  4. Your decisions

    You approve scope, product choices and changes.

Meeting times, communication channels and review responsibilities agreed before starting.

  • NDA available
  • Built in your accounts
  • Only necessary access requested
  • Access revocable by you at any time

MVP Build

Questions, answered

The things buyers ask us before they start.

Still have a question?

Ask us directly. Reply within 4 working hours; enquiries after hours are answered the next working morning (Pakistan time).

  1. A deployed first release in accounts you own, where one agreed core journey works end to end: for example, a customer signs in, submits a request and sees its status. Every build includes UX for that journey, frontend, backend and the data storage it needs, sign-in and permissions where the product needs them, the integrations listed in the scope, tests on the agreed critical paths, error monitoring, handover documentation and 30 days of defect fixes after launch. Payments and billing, AI features, native mobile apps, data migration and complex or custom integrations depend on scope and are priced in the quote.

Already have a team, and need more engineers?

If you can lead the product yourself, add engineers by the month instead, with the first week free.

See Engineering Capacity
Start here

Tell us what your first release has to do

Bring your launch or pilot date. On a free 30-minute call we tell you whether it fits, what the core journey is, and whether we can quote directly or start with a $500 Scope Sprint, credited in full.

Or book a free MVP scoping call

MVP Build

Give your first release a clear scope.

Turn your product idea into an agreed build, with a fixed quote and ownership of your code and accounts.

Start with a free scoping call

Scope your MVP

Opens a short enquiry form