Software development for startups
Startup software with a record your next hire can read.
A first release scoped in a week, built with agents inside a governed workflow, approved by you at two gates, and operated after launch. When you hire your own team, they inherit a record, not a rumour.
Start a project- week of discovery before anything is built
- 1
- human gates on every release
- 2
- handover documents, because there is no handover
- 0
Why founders work this way
-
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.
-
Speed without a mess
Agents do the repeatable work fast. The gates make sure fast does not mean unreviewed.
-
Investor-readable
The record shows what was built, why, and what was verified. Diligence is a link, not a week of archaeology.
-
Hire-readable
Your first engineering hire inherits artifacts and an audit log, and the platform that reads them.
-
Operated, not abandoned
We deploy, monitor and run production until you are ready to take it over.
-
No lock-in
Self-host the platform whenever you like. Everything stays yours.
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.
- 02
You had a freelancer, now you have a zip file
Something exists; nobody can say what or why. The record starts now.
- 03
You are raising and need to show the work
Diligence wants requirements, decisions and verification. You have chat logs.
- 04
Your first engineer starts next quarter
They should inherit a workflow and artifacts, not a handover call.
- 05
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.
- 06
You want to vibe-code it yourself
Fine, and when it needs 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
-
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.
-
AI features
Bounded agents in your product with reviewable outputs.
Read more -
Integrations
Payments, auth, email, the systems your customers already use.
Read more -
Operations
Deployment, monitoring and release controls until your team takes over.
-
Handover to your team
Self-host the platform, keep the record, run the next request yourselves.
From idea to first release
- 01
Discovery
A week with the people who own the problem. We write the feature request as the first artifact of the run and agree what done means before anything is designed.
In the record feature_request, scope, success measures
- 02
PRD and design package
Research, requirements and design are produced inside the workflow and land in the record as artifacts you can read, comment on and reject.
In the record research_report, prd, design_package
- 03
Design approval
A human gate. The run waits until you approve the design package. Nothing is built that the record does not say is being built.
In the record design_approval transition, logged with the approver
- 04
Development
Implementation runs as jobs on runners in short cycles. You see every transition as it happens, with the implementation package growing in the record.
In the record implementation_package
- 05
Automated QA and manual review
Automated QA runs first and writes a report. Manual review is the second human gate. Failures escalate instead of slipping through.
In the record qa_report, review_report
- 06
Release and operation
A release candidate leaves the loop 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, released
Sydeso against the usual options
An honest look at how a partner engagement on the platform 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 | Artifacts in a workflow run, with an audit log |
| How AI is used | Whatever each developer uses | Undisclosed, or a pitch | Agents run bounded jobs inside governed states |
| Who approves | Whoever is available | The agency PM | You, at two human gates on every run |
| After launch | Your on-call rota | 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: the platform is public and the record is yours |
| Price | Salaries and tooling | Day rates or fixed price | Per project, scoped at discovery |
Three ways to work with us.
-
For a team that needs the application built and run
Partner engagement
We own the application end to end: discovery, PRD, design, build, QA, release and operation. You hold the approval gates.
- Priced per project, scoped at discovery
- Your gates, our runs
- We operate production after launch
-
For a team that wants to run AI-driven delivery itself
Hosted platform
Your team and your feature requests on the Sydeso platform, with managed runners, storage, backups and upgrades operated by us.
- Per workspace, monthly
- Managed runners
- Support from the people who built it
-
For a team that keeps everything on its own infrastructure
Self-hosted
Clone the repository and run the same platform on Postgres, Redis and S3-compatible storage. Free under BUSL-1.1, AGPL-3.0 from 2030.
- Free
- Your runners, your data
- Community support on GitHub
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. The record shows the run state at any time, so you never have to ask.
- Do you take equity?
- No. Partner work is priced per project against the approved scope.
- What happens when we hire engineers?
- They join the workflow. The platform is public, the record is yours, and the next feature request can be run by your team on your runners.
- 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.
- Do we have to use the Sydeso platform?
- Every partner engagement runs on it, because the record it keeps is how we work. You can host it yourself from day one or move to self-hosting later; the platform is public under BUSL-1.1.
- What happens to the work if we stop?
- Everything is in the record as artifacts: requirements, design packages, implementation packages, QA and review reports. You keep all of it, and the platform that reads it is yours to run.
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