The Operating Promise
Six things we put in writing and don't negotiate. They apply to every engagement, whatever you've hired us for and however much of the technical leading we're doing on it. This page is what we mean by each one, and what happens when we miss.
The prices and the first step differ by path. See what it costs. The six below don't change between them.
01 · Every Monday
A written report every Monday
What it means
A written report, in your language. What got done against what we planned, what went well and what didn't, anything that's stuck and what we need from you, and anything you've raised that we've written down for the monthly review. Including the weeks where the answer is no progress and here's why. Those are the weeks it matters.
If we miss it
You can ask for it, and you shouldn't have to. A missed Monday without a reason is a thing to escalate, not a thing to be patient about.
02 · Four hours
A person replies within four business hours
What it means
First reply from a person within four business hours, from someone who knows your system. One hour if production is down, with a named person to escalate to and their number. Not an acknowledgement. A reply.
If we miss it
Escalate to Carsten, and he'll tell you why it happened.
03 · Two people
Two people understand every system
What it means
Two engineers understand every system we touch. Never only one. Nobody here is a single point of failure, including while you're mid-build, including on holiday, including if somebody leaves. This is also why we cap what we take on. Two people per system across too many clients isn't arithmetic that works.
If we miss it
We don't take the work. This is the one we'd turn down a project over.
04 · Before go-live
Nothing goes live without a runbook
What it means
Nothing goes live without a runbook: how to tell it's broken, what to check first, who to call. Written as each section ships, not assembled at the end. Written for whoever is on shift, not for an engineer.
If we miss it
It doesn't go live.
05 · No lock-in
No lock-in
What it means
A standard, boring, proven stack, named up front before you sign. You own the code, the documentation and every account, and you can take it to anyone. If you want to bring it in house, everything you'd need is already written down. We'd rather you stay because it's working than because leaving is expensive.
If we miss it
You'd know, because you'd be stuck. Ask about the stack on the first call. We'll tell you before you've paid anything.
06 · Bad news first
Bad news first
What it means
If something's late you hear it the day we know, with a new date and the reason. Not at the deadline, not when you ask.
If we miss it
This is the one that ends the relationship, and it should. Everything else here is recoverable.
The rest of it, plainly
Costs we pass through are billed at cost. No markup, and we tell you what they'll be before they start.
Quotes in EUR. Fourteen day terms. Fifty percent up front on builds.
Minimum engagement three months.
Care runs twelve months and you can stop any month after the third.
For German clients, Carsten is the named contact on the contract and the escalation endpoint. He's German, he's the person you'll be dealing with, and he's not a layer between you and the engineers.
Applies where we provide the technical lead
How the six months run
On top of the promise above, an engagement with a technical lead has a rhythm. It's the same every week and the same every month, and it's in the diary from day one. That means the first two paths on the services page, where we hold or share the technical decisions. If you're renting hands for a few weeks, none of this section applies to you.
Every week
Your report lands Monday morning, as above.
There's a thirty minute call, same day and time, where we work out what's getting done that week. We run it whether or not you join. You're welcome every week and expected at none. You're busy, and the work shouldn't stop because you couldn't make a Tuesday.
Every month, one hour
We start by reading out the goal we agreed in month one. Same sentence, every month, out loud.
Then we say plainly whether we're still on track against it. On track, drifting, or the goal has changed. If we're drifting, we decide there and then what to do about it rather than taking it away to think about. If the goal itself should be different now, that's allowed, and we write down what it was, what it is now, and why.
Then you get last month's work handed over, and we tell you what the month turned up that neither of us knew at the start.
Then we go through the parking lot. Everything you've raised that isn't on the plan is written down and not started. You'll have seen each item in the Monday report the week you raised it. Once a month we go through the whole list together and decide what moves into the plan and what doesn't. Nothing gets added to the plan anywhere else.
Then we agree the focus for the next month, and we tell you what we need from you before the next call.
Why the parking lot works that way
Good ideas are what pull a six month project off course, not bad ones. A bad idea gets said no to. A good idea gets quietly picked up next week by people trying to be helpful, and six of those and you've got something you didn't ask for. So we write everything down, and we decide it with you once a month, in daylight.
What you'll never have to ask for
The report. The call. The alignment check. Nothing here happens only in the months when it's going well.
Ask us about any of the six on the call. They're easier to check than they look.