Process
Eleven days, median, from signature to a merged pull request.
No discovery phase to buy, no statement of work to negotiate, no search fee. Five steps, each with something you can check at the end of it.
The path, end to end.
The same regardless of discipline, engagement model or size.
- 01Day 0
A 30-minute call
You describe the gap. We tell you which discipline it actually is — that answer changes about a third of the time — and whether we have the person.
- 02Within 5 days
Two or three profiles
Real engineers with availability, not a database dump. Each one comes with a written note on why they fit and where they would struggle.
- 03Days 5–9
You interview them
Your process, your bar, your rejection. We do not present anyone we would not hire ourselves, and the engineer who interviews is the engineer who ships.
- 04Days 10–24
Two-week paid trial
They join your standups and open real pull requests. Stop inside the trial for any reason and the engagement ends there.
- 05Ongoing
Embedded, and reviewed
Monthly rolling from there. A senior lead reviews their work independently of you, and we tell you before you have to ask.
What actually happens inside the three steps that matter.
Everything below is standard. None of it is negotiated per client, which is why it is written down here.
What we ask on the first call
- What is blocked right now, and what happens if it stays blocked for a quarter.
- Who would review this engineer's code, and how much time they have for it.
- Whether the constraint is genuinely engineering capacity or something upstream of it.
- Your timezone, your tools and your bar for seniority.
What is in a profile
- Real name, real availability date, and the rate you will pay.
- A written note from us on where they are strong and where they are not.
- Two pieces of work they can talk through in depth under NDA.
- The specific reason we think they fit this role rather than a generic summary.
How the trial works
- Two weeks, paid at the normal rate, on real tickets from your backlog.
- They join your standups, your review process and your channels from day one.
- Stop at any point inside the two weeks and the engagement ends with nothing further owed.
- We ask for a fifteen-minute call at the end of week one so problems surface early.
What we need from you.
Short, because a long list here is usually a sign the model is not working.
- One named person who can answer questions inside your working day.
- Repository, tooling and environment access on or before day one.
- Somebody to review pull requests — an hour or two a week is enough.
- A backlog with at least a fortnight of real, prioritised work in it.
- Signed MSA and NDA. Ours are three pages; yours are welcome instead.
What we take off your desk.
Everything in this column is priced into the rate. There are no separate fees.
- Sourcing, technical vetting, references and offer negotiation.
- Employment, payroll, taxes, equipment and local compliance in Pakistan.
- Timezone management and cover during planned leave.
- Independent monthly code review by a lead outside the engagement.
- Replacement within ten working days if the fit turns out to be wrong.
How we handle access and IP.
The short version: your accounts, your permissions, revoked the day an engagement ends.
Your accounts
Engineers use identities you create, with the scope you set. We never hold shared credentials.
Least privilege
Access is provisioned per engagement and reviewed monthly. Everything is revoked on the last day, not the last invoice.
Signed and specific
NDAs per engineer, an IP assignment clause in the MSA, and a security addendum if your policy needs one.
Auditable
SOC 2-aligned practices, device encryption and MDM on every machine, and evidence available for your own audit.
For engagements in regulated sectors we will work inside your VPC with no data leaving your environment. Ask on the call and we will put the arrangement in writing before you sign anything — or ask now.
Questions about the process.
What do you need from us to start?
A signed MSA and NDA — ours or yours, we are not precious — repository and tooling access, and one named person on your side who can answer questions and review code. That is the whole list.
How long does contracting usually take?
Two to four working days with most startups. Our paper is short and we are happy to sign yours. Legal review is the most common reason an eleven-day start becomes a three-week one.
What if we need to pause?
Thirty days' notice on embedded engineers and retainers, sixty on pods. We will also hold a specific engineer for up to four weeks at 40% of rate if you have a funding or planning gap and want them back.
How do you vet engineers before they reach us?
A structured technical interview, a paid take-home reviewed by two engineers, a systems and debugging session, and reference checks with people who managed them. Roughly three in a hundred applicants get through. We would rather show you nobody this month than someone we are unsure about.
What does the independent review actually look at?
A senior lead outside the engagement reads recent pull requests monthly against correctness, clarity and whether the engineer is asking the right questions. You get the finding, including when it is unflattering to us.
Do you charge for the call, the profiles or the search?
No. You pay for engineering time once an engineer starts, and nothing before that.
Step one takes thirty minutes.
An engineer on the call, not a salesperson. If we are the wrong answer you will hear that on the same call. Senior engineers, on your clock.