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A product engineer for the build you started

What to build,
and how to build it.

You built something with AI tools, and it works. But you can’t tell if it’s any good, or what breaks when real users show up. We stay beside you: working calls every month, a direct line for messages between them, and foundations you can build on.

Apply to Work Together

No payment now. Apply, meet us on a free call, then decide.

Not sure yet? Ask a question

Built it with AI. Now what?

AI wrote the code fast. It can’t tell you if it’ll hold up.

It doesn’t know if the login is safe, if the database will survive your first hundred users, or if the choices it made will paint you into a corner.

You can’t tell what to build next, and there’s no one to ask.

Rewrite this part, or leave it? Add the feature, or fix the foundation? Every wrong turn costs you a week. You need someone who’s made these calls before.

You don’t need to hire. You need a senior peer beside you.

A full-time engineer is six figures and three months. A task queue locks you in. What you need is one person who’ll help you make the right calls, month after month, then help you act on them.

If this is you

You built your product with Cursor, Claude, or Codex. It works. Mostly.

You’re not sure what’s there will hold up under real users. You can feel the shaky parts but don’t know what to do about them.

You can’t tell what to build next, what to leave alone, or which of AI’s ten suggestions is the one a senior person would actually pick.

You want a senior peer who’ll make the hard calls with you. That’s what we’re here for.

How it works

01

Apply

Tell us what you’ve built, what it’s built with, and where it’s wobbling. Takes a few minutes, costs nothing.

application

product: course platform

built with: AI tools

✓ Application sent

02

Meet on a free fit call

A short call to meet each other and talk through where your product stands. If it’s a fit, we get started.

fit call

>“Payments work but I’m scared to touch them”

>“Is any of this… right?”

✓ Good fit, let’s go

03

Build it right, month by month

Two 45-minute working calls a month. The calls you’re unsure about, we make together, so you build on solid ground. Between calls, send what comes up and get a response by the next business day.

this month

✓ Payments: settled how to make them safe

✓ Login: decided what to lock down before launch

→ Next call: plan for real traffic

What it looks like in practice

working call / Quick diagnosis
Q

Customers are paying through Stripe, but it’s not landing in my app. I’ve been stuck on this for two days.

A

Looked at it together.

  • → Found the missing security check that had been silently rejecting payments
  • →Made the call to wire up a small alert so the next failure isn’t silent. Five minutes of work, saves a day next time.

Fixed today, protected next time

working call / What to build first
Q

I need to add multi-tenancy but I don’t know where to start.

A

Laid out a clear plan together.

  • → Made the call on the simplest version that fits where you are now, not where a bigger company would be
  • → Showed you the two design choices that would have boxed you in later, and how to keep them open

A clear call you can act on

What we'll figure out together

Decide what to build next

Stuck on what to prioritize? We work through it with you so you always know what matters and what doesn’t.

Rebuild it or patch it?

That part of your product that’s getting scary. We look at it together and tell you honestly which call costs less.

Pressure-test it before you scale

A real audience is coming. We go through what’s there and flag what’ll break before your users find it first.

Buy it or build it?

Auth, payments, email, search. We help you decide what’s worth building yourself and what you should just pay for.

Tune how you build with AI

What your AI tools know about your product, how you check their work, how changes go live. We go through the whole loop and tighten it with you.

Make payments actually work

Subscriptions, refunds, invoicing, checkout. Easy to get wrong and hard to debug alone. We sit with you and fix it.

Get it safe for real users

Login, password handling, who can see what. We review what you’ve got and tell you what needs attention before launch.

Add AI without the demo trap

Chatbots, automations, AI features. Tutorials get you to a demo. We help you think through what real users need.

Your product engineer

The Founder

I’ve spent 15+ years shaping what to build and how to build it across enterprise platforms under real load, identity systems millions of people log into, and three companies I founded end-to-end. Most founders who built with AI tools need someone who can help with both: deciding what’s worth keeping, and laying down foundations that won’t paint you into a corner. That’s why Shipsteady exists. I weigh the trade-offs with you. The call you make is one you can live with.
0+years of engineering depth
0+companies built end-to-end
0+founder-facing engagements

Working together

A peer, not a contractor.

Product Judgment

We help you call what to build, not just how to build it. If a JSON file beats a database for your case, we’ll tell you so.

Engineering Depth

15+ years across enterprise platforms, identity systems, and three companies built end-to-end. We pick tools that hold up, so a future team can take it over without a rewrite.

Plain English

We talk through your project in plain language. You’ll always know where things stand and what to focus on next.

Languages
Frameworks
Databases
Cloud & Infra
Payments
Identity
AI

One arrangement. Same engineer, every month.

We work with a small number of founders at a time, by application. You get a senior product engineer beside you while you build, not a ticket queue.

The monthly arrangement

Partner

A senior engineer beside you while you build

€1,290per month, excluding VAT

By application, free fit call first

We go through what you built, tell you straight what holds and what won’t, and decide the tricky parts with you. You stay the one building. Same engineer, every month.

  • Month one: a written verdict on what’s solid and what’ll break under real users
  • Two working calls a month, so the hardest calls aren’t yours to make alone
  • The part you’re scared to touch: patch it, rebuild it, or leave it, decided together
  • A direct line for messages, with a response by the next business day
  • A shared hub with every call, every decision, and why we made it
  • Month to month. Cancel anytime.
Apply

No payment now. Apply, meet us on a free call, then decide.

Every month, you get

  • A second opinion on what your AI picked
  • 15+ years across identity, enterprise, and three companies built end-to-end
  • Plain-language answers, no condescension
  • A running record of every decision we make together

A few partner spots. By application.

Common questions

You fill in a short form about what you’ve built, what it’s built with, and what you’re wrestling with. We read every application personally and reply within a business day or two. If it looks like a fit, we set up a free call to meet.
A short, free call to meet each other. You tell us where your product stands, we tell you honestly whether we can help. No pitch, no pressure. If it’s not a fit, we’ll say so.
Two 45-minute calls a month. You share your screen, and we go straight at what’s most likely to bite you. We work the riskiest calls with you, so the toughest decisions stop being yours alone. You do the building.
Before the first call you fill in a short questionnaire, about ten minutes. On call one we go through your product together and you get a straight written verdict: what holds, what won’t, what to fix first. We also check how you build, not just what you built. What your AI tools know about your product, how you catch their mistakes, how changes go live, whether you’d find out before a user does if something broke. We tighten one weak spot right there on the call, and it all lands in your shared hub.
Between calls, send whatever comes up. A question, a screenshot, a ‘is this normal?’. You get a response by the next business day. No ticket queue, no triage.
Spas, the founder. Every call is with the same senior product engineer. 15+ years across enterprise platforms, identity systems, and three companies built end-to-end, with the judgment to help you decide what’s worth building before any code gets written.
Most founders we work with built their first version with AI tools, like you. We meet you where you are. Plain language, no jargon, and we help you make the product calls so you’re not guessing. You don’t need to know what “idempotency” means to get value from a call.
AI tools are good at writing code, but they can’t tell you when something’s a bad idea. They never say “I don’t know” or “this is risky.” The arrangement gives you a senior product engineer who works through your project with you and helps you figure out what’s next.
A freelancer takes a spec and builds it. We help you write the spec and build it well yourself. 15+ years across enterprise platforms, identity systems, and three companies built end-to-end. Same person every call. No proposals or long onboarding.
Yes. €1,290 a month, billed monthly. It runs month to month with no minimum term, and you can cancel anytime. The arrangement ends with the month you’ve paid for.
A monthly arrangement for founders who are actively building. Two working calls a month with the same senior product engineer, a direct line for messages, with a response by the next business day, and a shared hub that keeps a running record of every decision we make together. It’s by application. You tell us where your product stands, and if it’s a fit we set up a short call to meet.
No, you keep building, we keep you pointed in the right direction. We work the decisions with you on calls, answer what comes up in between, and review what you’ve built. You can show us your project’s inner workings whenever it helps, but you never have to. And if there’s a piece you’d rather we build, you can hand it to us. We agree on that work and its price separately.
Cancel anytime. No notice period, no exit call required. You keep everything in the shared hub. Every decision, every plan, all of it written down.
We don’t take over the building. We work the decisions with you on calls, answer what comes up in between, and review what you’ve built. You do the building. That’s the point. If there’s a piece you’d rather we build, you can hand it to us, and we agree on that work and its price separately.

Have a different question? Get in touch

$ ready for a peer who works the tough calls with you?

Decisions you can live with.

Bring the product. We’ll work the tough calls with you every month, and the decisions you make are ones you can live with. Month to month, cancel anytime.

Apply to Work Together

No payment now. Apply, meet us on a free call, then decide.