Do I have to give you equity?

No. Most of our clients don't. We invest when we help found a company and it makes sense for both sides.

What stops scope creep?

You're buying engineers' focus, not a fixed list of features. Priorities can change as often as reality does, within the capacity you've chosen. If the work grows, add an engineer. If it shrinks, a month's notice brings the team down.

Do you do fixed-price projects?

Rarely. A fixed price needs a fixed scope, and at the start of a startup a fixed scope is a guess. We'd rather keep the scope honest and the price predictable.

Do you charge extra for senior input?

No. Our Lead engineers support every engagement as part of the fee.

ExaCap Limited is our investment company. It holds the equity we take in companies we help found. It invests its own capital, doesn't manage anyone else's money, and isn't authorised or regulated by the FCA.

A flat monthly fee. No surprises.

You pay a flat monthly fee for engineers whose major focus is your company. No timesheets, no surprise invoices, and one month's notice either way. Tell us what you're building, and we'll give you a number on the first call.

The short version

A flat monthly fee.

Priced per engineer whose major focus is you. No day-rate timesheets, no surprise invoices.

One month's notice, either way.

We'd rather keep you because it's working than because you're locked in.

You own the work.

The IP in what we build for you is yours, and the cloud and accounts it runs on are in your name from day one. Open-source and third-party pieces keep their own licences.

Major focus

One flat feeper month, per major-focus engineer

Our standard way of working. One of our engineers makes your company their major focus: your work comes first for them, and they carry the context. Around them, the team flexes in and out as the work needs, so you get the right skills at the right moment, not one person in a seat.

What's included:

An engineer whose major focus is your company, working inside your team and your tools
Back-up from other engineers who know your codebase and follow your log channel
Input from our Lead engineers, at no extra cost
Specialists rotated in when the work needs them, such as infrastructure, data, AI or UI
A shared log channel with our running commentary on the work
Introductions from our network: hires, freelancers and advisors

Fees scale in a straight line: two major-focus engineers cost twice as much as one, three cost three times as much.

Spot

Up to 10 daysa month

Our spare capacity, at a discount.

Think of AWS spot instances. You get up to 10 days a month of our team's time at a lower rate, and in exchange we get flexibility on when we do the work. There's no major focus and no minimum.

It's a lean way to start, to prove the fit, or to keep things moving before a raise. If you find you regularly need more, that's the moment to move to a major focus.

What it looks like in practice

Building from zero with two major-focus engineers

Week one.

Your cloud accounts, Google Workspace, GitHub and password manager are set up in your name, and every credential is handed to you. A deployment pipeline runs from the first day.

The first months.

We work towards checkpoints you can put in front of customers and investors. The thing your first customer will pay for is in sharp focus. Everything else is bought off the shelf or deferred until it matters.

Later.

When you're ready to hire your own team, we help you find them, hand over a tested, documented codebase, and step back. We call that graduation.

Standard rates, not rigid ones

We have standard rates, and most engagements use them. We'll share them on the first call. Occasionally a situation calls for something different. If it does, we'll talk about it.

When we invest

When we help found a company, ExaCap, our investment arm, may invest on day one and take a seed-sized stake. Not a third, and not half. Our contribution is biggest before you scale, and a studio-sized stake would put off the investors you'll need later.

Equity is never a condition of working with us. Most of our clients simply pay the fee. Where it genuinely suits both sides, we're open to talking about it.

What's always true

You own the IP in the work we do for you.
We never host your infrastructure. It's set up in your name from day one.
We don't work with your direct competitors.
One month's notice is the standard. If you'd like a longer commitment, we can talk about that too.

Questions

Do I have to give you equity?: No. Most of our clients don't. We invest when we help found a company and it makes sense for both sides.
What stops scope creep?: You're buying engineers' focus, not a fixed list of features. Priorities can change as often as reality does, within the capacity you've chosen. If the work grows, add an engineer. If it shrinks, a month's notice brings the team down.
Do you do fixed-price projects?: Rarely. A fixed price needs a fixed scope, and at the start of a startup a fixed scope is a guess. We'd rather keep the scope honest and the price predictable.
Can we start small?: Yes. That's what Spot is for.
Do you charge extra for senior input?: No. Our Lead engineers support every engagement as part of the fee.
Who is ExaCap?: ExaCap Limited is our investment company. It holds the equity we take in companies we help found. It invests its own capital, doesn't manage anyone else's money, and isn't authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Want a number? Tell us what you're building.

You'll talk to one of the senior engineers who run the company, not a salesperson. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so and try to point you to someone who is.

Talk to us