Software development for startups
Startup software with a record your next hire can read.
A first release scoped in a week, built with AI agents inside a fixed process, approved by you at two gates, and operated after launch. When you hire your own team, they inherit a record, not a rumor.
Start a project- week of discovery before anything is built
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- sign-offs on every release
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- handover documents, because there is no handover
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Why founders work this way
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Scope before spend
A week of discovery produces the feature request, PRD and design package you approve. The price is set against that, not against hope.
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Speed without a mess
Agents do the repeatable work fast. The gates make sure fast does not mean unreviewed.
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Investor-readable
The record shows what was built, why, and what was verified. Diligence is a folder, not a week of archaeology.
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Hire-readable
Your first engineering hire inherits requirements, designs, QA reports and an audit log.
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Operated, not abandoned
We deploy, monitor and run production until you are ready to take it over.
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Yours from day one
Code in your repository, infrastructure in your accounts, every document in your hands.
When this fits a startup
It is a fit for some stages and not others. These are the ones where it works.
- 01
You have the idea and the customers, not the team
You need the application built and run while you sell.
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You had a freelancer, now you have a zip file
Something exists; nobody can say what or why. The record starts now.
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You are raising and need to show the work
Diligence wants requirements, decisions and verification. You have chat logs.
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Your first engineer starts next quarter
They should inherit documents and a process, not a handover call.
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You need to change direction quickly
A new direction is a new feature request. The record keeps the old one for when it is needed again.
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You vibe-coded a prototype
Fine. When it needs real users, a record and gates, bring it to us as a feature request.
Do two or more of these apply? Tell us which ones and we reply with how we would run it.
What we build for startups
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MVP
A first release scoped at discovery, verified before launch and built to grow.
Read more -
The product after the MVP
Each feature is a run. The record grows, the gates stay, the product compounds.
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AI features
Bounded agents in your product with reviewable outputs.
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Integrations
Payments, auth, email, the systems your customers already use.
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Operations
Deployment, monitoring and releases until your team takes over.
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Handing it to your team
They inherit the repository, the accounts and the record, and run the next request themselves.
From idea to first release
- 01
Discovery
A week with the people who own the problem. We write the feature request as the first document of the engagement and agree what done means before anything is designed.
In the record Feature request, scope, success measures
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PRD and design package
Research, requirements and design are produced and land in the record as documents you can read, comment on and reject.
In the record Research report, PRD, design package
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Design approval
A human gate. Work waits until you approve the design package. Nothing is built that the record does not say is being built.
In the record Logged approval, with the approver
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Development
Implementation runs in short cycles against the approved scope. You see progress as it happens, with the implementation package growing in the record.
In the record Implementation package
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Automated QA and manual review
Automated QA runs first and writes a report. Manual review is the second human gate. Failures go to a person instead of slipping through.
In the record QA report, review report
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Release and operation
A release candidate ships only after both gates pass. We deploy it, monitor it and operate it, and the next request starts the next run.
In the record Release candidate, release log
Sydeso against the usual options
An honest look at how an engagement with us compares with a typical agency and with building in-house.
| Item | In-house | Typical agency | Sydeso |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns delivery | Your team, alongside everything else | The agency, until handover | Sydeso, through production and after |
| Where the record lives | Tickets, chat and documents | Status reports and a handover document | A written artifact for every stage, with a log of who approved what |
| How AI is used | Whatever each developer uses | Undisclosed, or a pitch | Agents do bounded work inside the process; a person reviews before anything ships |
| Who approves | Whoever is available | The agency PM | You, at two gates on every piece of work |
| After launch | Your on-call rotation | A support contract, if offered | We operate production and start the next run |
| Can you take it in-house later | It already is | Depends on the handover | Yes. You own the code, the accounts and every document |
| Price | Salaries and tooling | Day rates or fixed price | Per project, scoped at discovery |
How an engagement is structured.
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Week one
Discovery
A week with the people who own the problem. We write the feature request, the PRD and the design package, and agree what done means.
- Ends in a PRD and a design package you own
- You approve it before anything is built
- Comes with a price for the build
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After approval
Build
Development in short cycles against the approved scope. Automated QA writes a report on every release candidate and a person reviews it before it ships.
- Priced per project against the PRD
- Changes are new feature requests, priced the same way
- Every document is yours as it is produced
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After launch
Operate
We deploy it, monitor it and run releases, month to month. Production is where the next feature request comes from.
- Monthly, separate from the build
- Take it in-house whenever you are ready
- The record comes with it
Questions
- How fast can we have a first release?
- Discovery is a week. The first release candidate follows in short cycles through design, approval, development, QA and review. You see which stage it is in at any time, so you never have to ask.
- Do you take equity?
- No. Work is priced per project against the approved scope.
- What happens when we hire engineers?
- They inherit the record and the process. The next feature request can be run by your team.
- Can we start small?
- Yes. A single feature request is a complete run. Many startups begin with one.
- How quickly do you reply?
- By email, with how we would run the work, not a call to book a call. Send one paragraph about what should ship first and you get a written answer.
- Where does the work live?
- In your accounts. Code in your repository, infrastructure in your cloud, documents where your team can read them. We bring the process, not a dependency.
- What happens to the work if we stop?
- You keep everything: code, infrastructure, requirements, design packages, QA and review reports. There is no handover because none of it was ever ours.
Tell us the first feature.
One paragraph about what should ship first. We reply by email with how we would run it, and what it would cost.
Start a project