What gets tested before you buy.

You need a 10-person delivery team this quarter

Sage Ideas is one operator. We can do depth on one or two parallel workstreams, not breadth across ten. If you need a staffing agency, we are the wrong fit and we will say so on the first call.

You want a full-time, on-call, replace-your-CTO arrangement

Studio Engagement is up to 30 hours per week with defined response windows. It is not 24/7 on-call. If you need a full-time engineering lead embedded in your team, hire one. We can help you scope the role.

You're shopping on price alone

Productized engagements start at $1,500 because that's the floor at which the work is actually high-quality. There is no $500 audit. Cheap consulting is expensive when it's wrong.

You expect equity-only or revenue-share

For pre-revenue startups in specific circumstances, we'll consider partial equity (cash + equity, not equity-only). Pure speculation arrangements are declined politely.

You need someone to ship code fast and ask questions later

We scope before we build. Discovery and architecture come first. If you want a contractor who builds whatever you ask without pushback, we are the wrong choice.