Startup program
Senior engineering founders can actually afford.
Pre-seed through Series B founders pay founder rates for the same senior engineers (G6+) we staff on enterprise engagements. Production from day one, not a demo we'll have to rebuild after the seed round.
- Senior-only · G6+ floor
- 20+ founder-stage builds
- MVP to Series B and beyond
- U.S. · Middle East · Europe
What you get
6 concrete things, in writing.
- 01
Senior engineers, founder rates
We staff with the same G6+ engineers we put on enterprise engagements: at founder-program rates that reflect your actual stage. No junior bench rotations to keep margins; we're investing in the long-term relationship rather than the quarterly P&L.
- 02
Production from day one
Every engagement scopes to a production deployment with monitoring, governance, and an operations plan, not a demo you'll rebuild after the seed round. Architecture decisions documented; tech stack chosen for what'll survive Series B, not what'll ship the demo fastest.
- 03
Hire-to-convert path
Engineers we embed are the engineers you can hire. We've placed senior engineers as founding engineers and CTO-track hires at multiple growth-stage clients. Conversion fee scaled down by length of engagement; terms negotiated in the original MSA.
- 04
Founder-friendly cadence
Two-week sprints with you in the standup. No multi-quarter discovery; no enterprise governance theater. We work the way founders work: fast, opinionated, ship-or-don't, with the rigor that lets you sleep.
- 05
Department backing on the hard problems
Behind every embedded engineer is a department lead: CORTEX (AI/ML), FORGE (custom software), NEXUS (cloud), CITADEL (security). When the hard problem shows up, you don't pay extra for the senior advice. It's included.
- 06
An honest conversation about what to build
We're as comfortable telling founders not to build something as we are about building it. Many founder calls end with us recommending a different vendor, hiring internally, or not starting yet. Saying no is engineering; we treat it that way.
How it works
4 steps, no theatre.
- 01
Apply with the problem
Tell us what you're building, where you are (pre-seed / seed / Series A / Series B), and the technical decision that's blocking. RIVERBED filters for fit and routes to the right department lead, usually within 2 business days.
- 02
30-minute discovery with the founder
Nayab joins every founder discovery call. 30 minutes. What you're building, where it's stuck, what you'd do if budget weren't a constraint. We'll tell you on the call whether we're a fit and what the next step looks like.
- 03
Scoped engagement with founder rates
If we're a fit, we scope a milestone-based engagement at founder-program rates. Typical first engagement: 8–14 weeks, 2–3 senior engineers, fixed price, milestone acceptance. SOW signed within 1 week of discovery.
- 04
Ship, iterate, scale
Two-week sprints with you in the standup. We ship the production system, hand over the runbook, and stay engaged on whatever the next chapter needs: additional features, embedded squad, or a hire-to-convert path for the engineers you've worked with.
In their words
“We needed an MVP that would survive Series B due diligence, not just demo well to seed investors. Prosigns shipped it on the timeline they quoted, and three of their engineers are full-time on our team now.”
Not for you if
Honest disqualifiers.
We’d rather you book a call with the right firm than spend 30 minutes discovering we aren’t.
- You need a single freelancer for 2–4 weeks of focused work: Toptal or Upwork is a better fit.
- You're pre-product / pre-revenue and need someone to build the idea for equity. We don't take equity in lieu of cash.
- You're looking for offshore-rate development with a U.S. wrapper: our rates reflect senior-only staffing, not offshore arbitrage.
- Your founding team can ship the product themselves and just needs more hands. Hire those hands directly; you don't need us.
Common questions
Before you book.
- 01
What does 'founder rates' actually mean?
Discounted day rates for pre-Series-B founders that reflect your stage rather than enterprise rate cards. Concretely: 25–40% below our enterprise day rates, with milestone-based pricing on first engagements rather than time-and-materials. Compensation band shared on the second conversation; no negotiation theater.
- 02
Do you take equity?
Not in lieu of cash. We've taken modest equity participation in 2 of the ~30 founder engagements we've shipped: both cases where the founders specifically asked and the equity was on top of (not instead of) the engagement fee. Cash is the default; equity is the exception we'd consider on a case-by-case basis.
- 03
Can we hire your engineers?
Yes, and we make it easy. Conversion fee structured as a percentage of first-year salary, scaled down by length of engagement (typically 18–24%; lower if the engagement runs over six months). We've placed engineers as founding engineers and CTO-track hires at multiple growth-stage clients. Negotiated in the original MSA so there are no surprises.
- 04
What's the smallest engagement size?
8 weeks, 2 senior engineers, typically $80K–$140K for the first scoped engagement. Below that, the engagement model and department-backing don't pencil out. If you need less than 8 weeks of work, you probably need a freelancer or your existing team, and we'd recommend that path honestly.
- 05
Do you work pre-seed?
Yes: selectively. Pre-seed engagements typically focus on technical co-founder gap (you have product / domain insight but need senior engineering leadership), MVP build (4–6 weeks to a real prototype), or technical due diligence ahead of fundraising. We're more selective at pre-seed because the fit risk is higher; we'd rather pass than mis-fit.
- 06
Founder calls, really 30 minutes with the founder?
Yes. Nayab joins every founder discovery call. Sometimes you'll get the practice lead too if the technical depth warrants it. Calls are 30 minutes by default; we use that time, and we'll tell you on the call whether we're a fit. No follow-up sales sequence; no SDR triage.
Startup program
Senior engineering founders can actually afford.
30 minutes · no obligation · senior engineer