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Engagement · Partnership — software for equity

We don't bill partners. We back them.

For a small number of companies each year, we trade our engineering for ownership — the full build for equity, or a reduced price plus equity. We build as co-owners of the outcome, because we are.

Pitch us

How it works

1

Your request

Send the idea, the traction, the team — one email is enough. We take partnership pitches seriously and reply to every one, most within a week.

2

Our estimate

We scope and price the build exactly as we would for a paying client. That number becomes the basis of the equity conversation — transparent on both sides.

3

The agreement

Two structures: the full build value converted to equity, or you pay under price and the discount converts to equity. Standard terms, real lawyers, no exotic instruments.

Two structures

Full equity

100% build-for-ownership

The entire estimated build value converts to equity at your current valuation. Zero cash from you; maximum conviction from us. Reserved for the strongest theses.

Hybrid

reduced price + equity

You pay a discounted price in cash; the discount converts to equity. Keeps your dilution modest and our incentives long — the structure most partners choose.

What we look for

Founders who sell

Evidence of distribution — customers, letters of intent, an audience. We supply the product; you supply the market.

Software at the core

The product is the business — not a website beside one. Our equity should compound with our own work.

A real wedge

A specific, underserved problem with a credible path to revenue in 12 months — not a platform for everyone.

Terms that respect both sides

Clean cap table, standard shareholder rights, honest valuation. If it needs tricks, it isn't a partnership.

Deal mechanics, in plain language

Equity deals fail on ambiguity. Ours are built on the same estimate discipline as our paid work — here's how the numbers connect.

Valuation basis
Your current or most recent round valuation — or one we agree with your advisors. We don't invent our own.
Equity calculation
Build value (or the discount, in hybrid deals) ÷ agreed valuation = our stake. One formula, no exotic instruments.
Vesting & milestones
Our equity vests against delivery milestones — if we don't ship, we don't own. The same accountability we sell.
Rights
Standard minority shareholder rights. No board seat demands, no veto rights, no drag beyond market norms.
After the build
We stay your engineering partner at preferential terms — it's our equity working too. Or we hand over cleanly; the docs are ready either way.

Founder questions

How much equity are we talking about?

It follows from the formula: build value ÷ valuation. In hybrid deals the equity component is smaller because you're paying part in cash — most founders land there.

Will this scare off future investors?

A clean, standard-terms stake held by the team that built the product usually reads as a signal, not a red flag. We've been through diligence before; the paperwork is institutional-grade.

What if the build stalls or we fall out?

Vesting protects you: unvested equity returns if we don't deliver. And the same exit doors as paid work apply — you keep everything shipped to that point.

Why do you reject most pitches?

Capacity, mostly — a few deals a year gets our best people, not our spare ones. A rejection often comes with a referral or an honest note on what would change our mind.

Case study · Health · Equity hybrid

From pitch to institutional funding on a hybrid equity deal

A clinical founder with distribution, no product. We built the platform; she filled it with clinics.

Read the case study →
100+
clinics live
funded
institutional round

A few partnerships a year. Chosen carefully.

If yours should be one of them, make the case. A pitch takes one email; the reply takes a week.

Pitch us