Fixed-scope MVP build

A real MVP. Fixed scope, fixed price.

You know the number before we start.Production-ready from day one: real auth, real payments, real tests, monitoring. Not a demo that dies the moment a hundred real users show up. Built by a senior engineer, and you own every line.

Book a scoping call →See pricing
Fixed scope, fixed price, from $15K · 6-12 weeks · you own everything
blueprint · v1.0production-grade stack
shipdeploy · monitor · revert
uireact · responsive · a11y
apiauth · rate-limit · types
datapostgres · migrations · seed
infravercel / fly · ci/cd · secrets
6–12wk build$15K floor0 hourly

A real MVP is production-ready from day one: real authentication, real payments, tests and CI, and monitoring. On screen it looks identical to an AI-built prototype. Underneath it is nothing alike, and the difference shows up the day real users arrive. I have shipped 50+ MVPs over 20 years, and about half are still running. You own every line.

This is for you if…

You have something real, and you are terrified of paying to get it built wrong.

  • You have an idea, or a Cursor / Lovable / Bolt prototype that got you 75% of the way and stalled
  • You can't tell if a developer is any good, so you can't tell if you're about to get ripped off
  • You have heard the horror stories: the smoke-and-mirrors MVP, the AI-built app that collapsed into a 300-hour refactor quote
  • You don't want an open-ended hourly meter. You want to know the number.

If two or three of those land, let's talk.

The promise

A fixed price, a real product, and your code. That is the whole deal.

We agree the scope and the price before you pay a deposit. No hourly meter, no surprise invoice. You own the code and the accounts from day one, I never hold your keys. And I will talk you out of features you do not need yet, because a smaller, right first version is how you actually launch. Padding your scope is how agencies pad their bill. I would rather you ship.

What production-ready means

"Production-ready" is not a demo. Here is what it actually includes.

  • Real authentication and permissions, not a login anyone can walk past
  • Real payments, wired and tested, not a Stripe key sitting in your frontend
  • Tests and CI, so the next change does not silently break the last one
  • Monitoring, so when something goes wrong you know before your users do
  • Security from day one, because the cheapest time to fix it is before launch

The AI-built prototype looks identical to this on screen. It is not the same underneath, and the difference shows up the day real users arrive.

How it works

Three steps. No mystery.

"Fixed price when the point of an MVP is to learn?" Yes. We scope the right first version tightly and cut the rest, so the number is honest, not a hedge. You learn from a real product, not a half-finished one.

01

Scope

A tight, honest scoping call. We decide the right first version together and cut what you do not need. This is what makes a fixed price real instead of a guess.

02

Build

Senior engineering plus a supervised AI pipeline. You get plain-English progress every week, not a black box.

03

Ship

You launch with something that runs, plus a clean handoff you actually own.

A fixed price is only real because the scope is honest. That is what the first call is for.

Pricing

What it costs, up front.

Fixed scope, fixed price, quoted before you commit a dollar. Milestones, not an open meter.

From $15,000· fixed
6 to 12 weeks for most first versions · no hourly billing, ever

You own the code either way, so there is no lock-in and no hostage situation. The price cannot run away from you. That is the point.

Book a scoping call →
Proof

Real ones. With the parts that were actually hard.

The claim next to the client. This is what converts, and what you can check.

idea → App Store

KBYV: idea to the App Store.

Web app, native iOS, an admin console, and a daily pipeline pulling public election data. A real product in the store, not a prototype. The marketing site was about a day on top.

Read the case →
prototype → live marketplace

CaskMatch: a founder's prototype, turned into a live marketplace.

Real users, real transactions, in production.

Read the case →
the line that matters most

About half the MVPs I have shipped are still running years later.

Most agency MVPs are dead inside one. Production-ready from day one is why.

Who this is not for

This is not for everyone, and that is fine.

  • If you want the cheapest quote, I am not it. Not the most expensive either, but I do not compete on price.
  • If you want a throwaway prototype for a pitch deck, there are faster and cheaper ways.
  • If you want to manage my hours, we will both be miserable. I sell a shipped product, not a timesheet.
FAQ

Straight answers.

The questions every founder asks before they hand over a real budget.

Usually 6 to 12 weeks for a real first version, depending on scope.
Yes, all of it, in your accounts, from day one. I never hold your keys.
Often, yes, that is common. If it is closer to a rescue than a build, we scope it that way. See Finish & Launch.
If you want ongoing shipping and someone keeping it stable, that is Continuum, my monthly partnership. Plenty of clients start here and stay there. No pressure, and I will not pad the build to force it.
One senior person who owns the outcome, scopes honestly, hands you your code, and has a track record you can actually check.

Let's scope it.
You'll know the number before you commit a dollar.

Book a scoping call →Send me your project
A short call to agree the right first version and what it costs · no sales scriptWhat you have, what you want to launch, what you've tried · I'll reply within 48 hours

Already have a half-built app? See Finish & Launch. Want ongoing shipping after launch? See Continuum.

Matt

Last updated: 2026-09-16