A Development Team Built Around Shipping, Not Planning
We build custom software for US startups and small businesses that don't have engineers of their own — and unlike most agencies, we are still here the week after launch.
Most App Projects Die in a Document, Not in Code
Two things kill more software projects than any technical problem. The first is planning that never turns into anything: months of wireframes, specification documents and feature debates, and at the end of it there is still nothing a real person can open. The second is the developer who stops replying — often after taking a deposit, usually leaving behind code nobody else can read and accounts nobody else can log into.
We started MakeMyApp to work the opposite way. Cut the first release down to the smallest thing that genuinely proves the idea. Agree the price before work begins so the budget is knowable. Put the repository and the cloud accounts in the client's name from the first day. Then show a working build every two weeks until it ships — and keep showing up afterwards, because launch day is the start of the useful part, not the end of it.
Four Principles We Don't Negotiate On
These are not slogans. Each one is a specific thing we do differently, and each one costs us something — which is why plenty of agencies skip them.
Ship a Working Version Fast
We would rather hand you something real in ten weeks than something perfect in ten months. The first release is deliberately narrow: the one workflow that matters, built properly, with everything else pushed to a later phase. Real users behave differently to how a specification predicts they will, and the only reliable way to find that out is to let them use it.
Fixed Price, So the Budget Is Knowable
For a defined scope we quote a number and hold it. If you later want something that was not in the scope, we price that change in writing before anyone starts it — so the surprise arrives in an email you can say no to, not in an invoice. Where work genuinely cannot be scoped up front, we say so and propose a time-based arrangement instead of pretending.
You Own the Code and the Accounts
The repository, the cloud project, the app store listings and the domain are created in your name on day one — not migrated across at the end if the relationship stayed friendly. Intellectual property transfers to you on final payment. If you ever want to take the project elsewhere you already hold everything; there is nothing for us to release under pressure.
We Stay On After Launch
Operating systems update, APIs get deprecated, app stores change their rules, and users find the bug your test plan did not. We offer maintenance retainers and continued feature work because software nobody is looking after quietly degrades. If you would rather bring it in-house, we document it properly so your next engineer can pick it up.
15+
Service lines, from MVPs to IoT companion apps
2 wks
Between working demo builds
1 day
Business-day reply to anything you raise
You
Own the code, repos and accounts
What Communication Actually Looks Like
Being straight about this matters more than sounding impressive: our delivery team is not based in the United States. Plenty of agencies fudge that and then go quiet for a week. Instead of vague promises about being “always available”, we commit to four specific things you can hold us to.
- A written update at the end of every working day — what moved, what is next, what is blocked
- Calls scheduled in your morning, US Eastern, so you are never taking them at midnight
- A reply to anything you raise within one business day, including the awkward questions
- A working demo build every two weeks that you can install and use yourself
That last one is the one that matters. Progress reports are easy to write and impossible to verify. A build on your own phone is not. If a sprint went badly you will see it in the demo before anyone has to explain it, which keeps the conversation honest in both directions.
See the engagement modelsFrom First Call to Something You Can Ship
A scoping conversation, not a sales call
We ask what the software is meant to change about your business, who is going to use it, and what already exists. Then we come back in writing with a scope, a timeline and a budget range. You get that document whether or not you hire us, and it costs nothing.
Design and a clickable prototype
Screens get designed and linked together before production code exists, because moving a button in a prototype costs minutes and moving it in a shipped app costs days. You sign off on how it looks and how it flows before the build starts.
Two-week build sprints
Each sprint has a written list of what it contains and ends with a build you can install. Anything that slips gets said out loud in the end-of-day update rather than discovered at the end of the month.
Launch, then the part most people skip
We handle store submission, the review responses and the launch-week fixes that always appear once real traffic arrives. After that you can move to a maintenance retainer, keep building features, or take the whole thing in-house with documentation.
Who We Are Good For — and Who We Are Not
A bad fit wastes your money and our reputation. We would rather tell you now than six weeks in.
This works well if…
- You have a business problem or product idea and no engineering team to hand it to.
- You want a fixed number before you commit, and a written change process if the scope moves.
- A previous developer stalled, went quiet, or left you with code nobody can read.
- You are willing to cut the first release down to what actually proves the idea.
- You can give feedback on a demo build every two weeks and approve designs on time.
- You want to own the repository, the cloud accounts and the store listings outright.
- You want someone maintaining the software after it ships rather than disappearing.
This is the wrong fit if…
- You need an engineer physically in your office or online in your time zone all day.
- You want the entire product, every feature on the list, live in four weeks.
- The budget is a couple of thousand dollars; below that a template or no-code tool serves you better.
- You are shopping for the lowest quote and will choose on price alone.
- Nobody on your side can approve work without a long committee process.
- You want a partner who takes equity instead of payment — we build on commercial terms.
- You need bodies staffed into someone else's process with no defined scope of our own.
If you are not sure which column you are in, say so on the call. We have turned work down for being a poor fit, and it has never been the wrong call.
One Team Across the Whole Stack
Rather than specialising in one platform and subcontracting the rest, we keep mobile, web, backend and AI work under one roof so nothing gets lost between vendors.
Tell Us What You Want Built
A scoping conversation costs nothing and ends with a written scope, timeline and budget range — even if you take it to someone else.