Most software companies pick a market, build a product, and try to sell it. GVP works the other way around.
We start with a person — usually someone running a business with $1M–$50M in revenue who’s been duct-taping their tools together for years — and we ask them what they wish existed. Then we go build it with them.
”Customer” is the wrong word
The word “customer” implies a transaction: you have money, we have software, we exchange. The relationship ends at the invoice.
A partner is different. A partner sits in the room while you’re sketching out how the software should work. They tell you which automation will make their week and which one will silently break their workflow. They review screens before they ship. They’re on the hook with us — and we’re on the hook with them.
That’s how the work gets shaped right.
Two ways we work
We talk about this on the how-we-work page, but it’s worth restating here:
- Quick wins — small builds where the problem is obvious and the fix doesn’t need debate. Flat fee, scoped up front, shipped fast.
- Partner builds — a problem deep enough that we share the cost of the build and the upside if what we build can help others in your industry too. We never take equity in your business.
Different sizes, same operating principle: the people who do the work get to shape the tool.
Why now
Five years ago, this model didn’t work at the scale we work at. Custom software was too expensive. Off-the-shelf was too generic. Modern infrastructure and AI made building real software 10× cheaper — and that means a 20-table restaurant can now afford the kind of bespoke tooling that used to be enterprise-only.
The window is open. We’d rather walk through it with partners than push product at a market.
— Jeff