Pricing
What it costs
One offer. Two ways to pay. Every phase priced before it starts.
The Build costs under a tenth of the value it's projected to add, and the new cash flow pays it back within a year. If the Sprint can't show that, I'll tell you not to build.
Value Sprint and Build
| Item | Cash | Partner |
|---|---|---|
| Value Sprint · 7–10 business days | $10,000, credited if the Build starts within 30 days | Same |
| Build · revenue under $3M | $50,000 | $30,000 up front + 10% of the gain (cap $100,000) |
| Build · revenue $3M–$10M | $80,000 | $48,000 up front + 10% of the gain (cap $160,000) |
| Build · revenue $10M+ | from $125,000 | 60% up front + 10% of the gain (cap 5× the discount) |
Value Sprint · 7–10 business days
- Cash
- $10,000, credited if the Build starts within 30 days
- Partner
- Same
Build · revenue under $3M
- Cash
- $50,000
- Partner
- $30,000 up front + 10% of the gain (cap $100,000)
Build · revenue $3M–$10M
- Cash
- $80,000
- Partner
- $48,000 up front + 10% of the gain (cap $160,000)
Build · revenue $10M+
- Cash
- from $125,000
- Partner
- 60% up front + 10% of the gain (cap 5× the discount)
The Build price is fixed in writing after the Sprint. Ad spend is extra and goes straight to Google or Meta.
After handoff
You pick how much of me you need. The standing warranty applies whatever you pick.
On-call
$1,500/mo
$2,500/mo at $10M+ revenue · 6-month minimum
- Monitoring and updates
- Next-business-day response
- Up to 4 hours of changes a month
- A quarterly numbers review
About a day of a senior developer a month keeps it safe and current, with someone on the hook.
Pay per fix
$200/hr
1-hour minimum, quoted before work starts
Senior rates, only when your team and Claude can't handle it. My own bugs are always free.
Fractional CTO
$6,000/mo
About 2 days a month, On-call included · extra days $2,000 · 3-month minimum
A senior tech lead at your table for about a third of a full-time CTO's salary.
What the warranty covers
Standing warranty: if something I built doesn't work the way we agreed, I fix it. No invoice, no end date.
It covers work I wrote that doesn't do what we agreed in writing, for as long as you run it. It doesn't cover changes made later by your team or other developers, outages at outside services, or new features. Those fall under the plan you pick. Every change is on record with who made it and when, so it's quick to see what changed. Full terms are in your agreement.
Partner: pay less now, share the gain
For a business I believe in, I take part of my pay as a share of the value we add. These are the usual terms. We settle the details in the Sprint, once we've both seen the numbers.
- Up front
- 60% of the Cash price for the Build. The Sprint is always full price and is credited either way.
- The gain
- Sale price (cash-free, debt-free, real estate excluded) minus your value baseline. The baseline is fixed in dollars when we sign. If you like, it can rise 5% a year, so I only share in growth above your own trend.
- My share
- 10% of the gain, paid when you sell. Never more than 5× your discount.
- How long
- 5 years. No sale by then? An independent appraiser values the business; we split the fee. You pay my share over 24 months, and you can buy it out anytime with the same formula.
- Earned over time
- 25% at signing, 25% at handoff, then monthly over 24 months while I stay on call. If I walk away, I lose what I haven't earned. If you sell, or end the deal without cause, it's all earned.
- Also pays out on
- Selling part of the business, or taking a large payout by borrowing against it. The full list is in the agreement.
- Structure
- By default, a contract share of the gain: no shares issued, no vote and no cap table to reopen. If you're building toward a sale and want a partner with a vote, real equity is possible, and your lawyer sets it up.
A worked example
| Today | After the Build | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3,000,000 | $3,000,000 |
| Cash flow | $450,000 | $600,000 (+$150,000/yr) |
| Multiple | 2.6× (runs through the owner) | 3.6× (runs without the owner, clean numbers) |
| Value | $1,170,000 | $2,160,000 |
| As a share of a year's revenue | about 0.4× | about 0.7× |
Today
- Revenue
- $3,000,000
- Cash flow
- $450,000
- Multiple
- 2.6× (runs through the owner)
- Value
- $1,170,000
- As a share of a year's revenue
- about 0.4×
After the Build
- Revenue
- $3,000,000
- Cash flow
- $600,000 (+$150,000/yr)
- Multiple
- 3.6× (runs without the owner, clean numbers)
- Value
- $2,160,000
- As a share of a year's revenue
- about 0.7×
Illustrative. Your numbers will differ. Gain: $990,000. $390,000 comes from the higher cash flow. $600,000 comes from the higher multiple.
| Cash | Partner | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid up front | $80,000 | $48,000 |
| Paid at sale | $0 | $99,000 (10% of $990K; cap $160K) |
| Total cost | $80,000 | $147,000 |
| Owner keeps of the gain | $910,000 (92%) | $843,000 (85%) |
| New cash flow pays back the up-front cost in | 6.4 months | 3.8 months |
Cash
- Paid up front
- $80,000
- Paid at sale
- $0
- Total cost
- $80,000
- Owner keeps of the gain
- $910,000 (92%)
- New cash flow pays back the up-front cost in
- 6.4 months
Partner
- Paid up front
- $48,000
- Paid at sale
- $99,000 (10% of $990K; cap $160K)
- Total cost
- $147,000
- Owner keeps of the gain
- $843,000 (85%)
- New cash flow pays back the up-front cost in
- 3.8 months
On the illustrative example: an $80,000 Build and a $990,000 gain.
If the Build half-delivers (+$75K cash flow, 3.1× multiple), my total on the Partner track is $93,750. If the gain is zero, it's the $48,000 up front, and nothing more.
- I take a limited number of Partner deals each year.
- I don't find buyers or negotiate sales. A broker or M&A advisor does that.
- Your lawyer and CPA paper the deal. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.
Why it costs this
- Value Sprint
- Ten days to map the work your team does by hand, find where software and AI agents can take it over, and fix the price to build it. You also get a value baseline from your books. Credited if we build.
- Build
- It costs under a tenth of the value it's projected to add, and the new cash flow is projected to pay it back within a year.
- Partner
- Pay 60% now. I earn the rest only if your business becomes more valuable, paid when you sell or at year five, and it's capped.
Questions about pricing
Is the value baseline an appraisal?
No. It's buyer math: your cash flow times what buyers pay for businesses like yours, adjusted for what we find. We use it to measure the gain. If you need a formal valuation for a sale, a loan or an estate, hire a credentialed appraiser.
Do I have to sell?
No. The same work raises your cash flow every month you own the business, and gets it running without you. On the Partner track, if you haven't sold in five years, an independent appraisal settles my share.
What if the value doesn't go up?
On the Partner track, I get nothing beyond the up-front fee. On the Cash track, you paid a fixed price for a system you own. And if the Sprint can't show at least 10 times the Build price in projected value, I'll tell you not to build.
What if my business would have grown anyway?
We can set the baseline to rise 5% a year, so I only share in growth above your own trend.
How do payments work?
The Sprint is paid up front and credited in full if the Build starts within 30 days. The Build is paid 50% to start, 25% at the midpoint and 25% at handoff. On the Partner track it's the same schedule on the reduced price. Ad spend goes straight to Google or Meta, not through me.
What if Claude changes or goes away?
Your software isn't tied to Claude. Claude is how your team edits it, and the AI agents inside it are set up to run on any model. The code is standard and lives in your accounts, so any developer or another AI tool can work on it. If the tools change, I will help your team switch.
Let's look at how your business runs today.
Book 30 minutes. Walk me through how the work gets done, and I'll tell you where software and AI agents could take it over. You'll leave with a clear next step, whether or not it's me.