For funded pre-seed & seed startups
Senior product engineers turn your idea, prototype, or spec into owned software you can put in front of customers and future hires. Modern tools compress the build time; 22 years of experience protects the decisions.
Only 10 founding seats — the earlier you join, the better your shot. No spam, one follow-up about your build.
You're in — and early.
You're one of the first to raise your hand — right in the group we prioritize for the first 10 founding seats. We'll reach out to learn what you want built.
You're on the list.
The first 10 founding seats are limited, but the waitlist is open — we'll reach out as seats open up. Tell us what you want built below.
Know someone who'd want this?
If you know a founder, team, or agency looking for senior product engineering, send them your link — we'll know the intro came from you.
Idea or spec → owned product
First-year cost: senior hire vs Crafted — annualized
Runway preserved in year one
~$120k
The hidden cost of waiting
And the one senior engineer you finally land? That's a single point of failure you can't afford yet — one resignation, one burnout, one better offer, and your roadmap stalls.
3 months
average time to source, interview, and close one senior engineer — before a line of code ships.
1 person
is your entire eng team. If they leave, so does your product knowledge. A bet too big for one seat.
~$180k
salary + equity for that one hire — a serious slice of a pre-seed or seed round, locked in before traction.
Run the numbers
Drag the months — see what a senior hire costs your round before they've shipped, and what the Crafted ongoing retainer costs over the same window. (First build is a separate one-time cost from ~$8k.)
Hiring one senior engineer
Crafted retainer
Illustrative. Senior hire assumes ~$180k/yr fully loaded; Crafted ongoing retainer at ~$4,995/mo (first build from ~$8k, charged once, not modeled here). Equity dilution not modeled.
How it works
A short call. We scope the first useful version — the slice that proves your thesis with real customers.
Experienced product engineers — not juniors, not offshore churn — own every decision. Modern tools make the build fast; judgment keeps it sound.
A v1 you can put in front of customers, investors, and future hires — in your repo, your IP, built so it holds up to scrutiny.
An ongoing retainer that iterates with your traction — until you're ready to hire your own team. Then we hand off cleanly.
Two phases, one relationship
A focused first build, then ongoing development
Phase 1 — First build · from ~$8k
We scope the first useful version with you, then build and launch it: a real v1 you can put in front of customers and investors, in your repo, your IP. Most first builds land in weeks, not quarters — far faster than a hiring search.
Phase 2 — Ongoing · from ~$4,995/mo
After launch we keep building, maintaining, and improving with you, month by month, as real users teach you what matters. Pause when you need to. You keep the code either way — and hand off clean when you hire.
Why Crafted for a funded startup
Get the first useful version into customers' hands faster than a hiring search — real feedback and investor-ready proof sooner, not after a quarter of recruiting.
Trade a ~$180k fixed hire and equity for a flexible monthly retainer. Extend your runway by quarters.
100% of the code in your repos — owned software that holds up in front of investors and future hires, with no equity off your cap table and no single point of failure.
How the options stack up
| Crafted | Hire a senior eng | Dev agency | AI builders / no-code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time to first useful v1 | Faster than a hiring search | 3+ months to hire, then build | Weeks of scoping & SOWs | Fast, until it can't scale |
| Cost | From ~$8k, then ~$4,995/mo · no equity | ~$180k/yr + equity | $50k–150k+ per project | Cheap upfront, costly rebuild |
| Who builds it | Senior engineers | One person | Variable, often juniors | You + a generic template |
| You own the code | 100%, credible in diligence | Yes | Often, with lock-in | Locked to the platform |
| Who owns the decisions | Experienced engineers, accountable | Depends who you hire | Depends on the shop | You, with no safety net |
| Single point of failure | No — a team | Yes — one hire | Project-bound | You, alone |
“Speed without judgment is how a product quietly becomes a liability.”
AI gives you the speed. Experience is what keeps that speed from shipping security holes, data leaks, and decisions you can't undo. For a funded startup, that's the difference between a v1 you can put in front of investors and one that turns into an expensive cleanup. I make sure it's the former — owned code, in your repos, no equity off your cap table.
Example builds
Illustrative examples of how a funded startup might use a first build, not client testimonials. We scope the first useful version with you before anything is built.
You have term-sheet money and no engineer. We scope the single core flow that proves your thesis and launch it as a real v1 — so you can onboard your first customers instead of running an interview loop.
Outcome: real customer feedback before a senior hire is even sourced.
You have a no-code prototype or AI demo that customers like but you can't trust or extend. We rebuild it as software you own outright — credible enough to show a seed lead's diligence team, with no platform lock-in.
Outcome: a codebase that holds up in technical diligence.
You'd budgeted a ~$180k senior hire you can't justify yet. We build the v1 for a fraction of that with no equity, then keep improving it — and hand off a clean, documented repo whenever your first engineer joins.
Outcome: runway preserved, clean handoff to a future team.
Founding pricing
We're taking a limited number of founding clients, who lock their founding rate. Seats are limited — the earlier you join, the better your shot at one. Senior product engineers, a real v1 you own outright, and a clean handoff when you hire. If a fully-funded eng hire isn't where your round should go yet, you're who we built this for.
Questions
Founding pricing · limited slots
First build from ~$8k, ongoing from ~$4,995/mo, no equity. Founding seats are limited — the earlier you join, the better your shot at one. Drop your email and we'll follow up to learn what you want built.
Only 10 founding seats — the earlier you join, the better your shot. No spam, one follow-up about your build.
You're in — and early.
You're one of the first to raise your hand — right in the group we prioritize for the first 10 founding seats. We'll reach out to learn what you want built.
You're on the list.
The first 10 founding seats are limited, but the waitlist is open — we'll reach out as seats open up. Tell us what you want built below.
Know someone who'd want this?
If you know a founder, team, or agency looking for senior product engineering, send them your link — we'll know the intro came from you.