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CoolNerd

Process

How an engagement works.

We don't sell strategy decks. We sell working systems. Here's what every engagement looks like, from first call to live.

  1. 01
    Week 0

    Free 30-minute consultation

    Tell us what's hurting. We'll tell you whether we're a fit and roughly what we'd do. No deck, no pitch — usually just a real conversation about what your business looks like under the hood.

    What you get
    • Honest fit assessment
    • Rough scope sketch
    • Pointer to alternatives if we're not the right team
  2. 02
    Week 1–2

    Explore — understand before we build

    We shadow the real workflow. Talk to the people doing the work. Audit the data. By the end you have a concrete plan: what we're shipping, what we're measuring, and why.

    What you get
    • Process map of the current state
    • Prioritized opportunities and risks
    • Build plan with concrete outcomes
    • Fixed scope, fixed price, fixed timeline
  3. 03
    Week 2–10

    Automate — ship the system

    Senior builders, working in tight loops. You see progress every week, not at the end. The build is yours from day one — every line of code, every workflow, every credential.

    What you get
    • Working software in your environment
    • Documentation your team can own
    • Monitoring, alerts, and audit trails
    • Knowledge transfer to your team
  4. 04
    Ongoing

    Elevate — compound the wins

    Most clients keep us on a small monthly retainer after launch. Not for emergencies — for tuning, expanding, and adding the next thing without standing up a new SOW for every change.

    What you get
    • Monthly tuning + measurement reviews
    • Roadmap of next opportunities
    • Priority response for issues
    • Fractional CTO–style guidance

How we work

Four commitments behind every engagement.

Outcomes, not hours

We quote the outcome, not the work. If a build comes in under estimate, you keep the upside. If it runs over, that's on us.

Senior people on every build

The person you talk to is the person writing the code. We stay small on purpose — three to four active engagements at a time.

Documented and owned by you

Everything we ship is yours: the code, the credentials, the docs. We're not building a moat around your business.

Honest about what we can't do

If a problem is the wrong shape for us, we'll say so — and usually point you to someone better suited.

Pricing

What engagements usually cost.

Every project is scoped, fixed, and quoted up front — but for rough planning, here's the range we see most often.

Quick wins
$5k – $15k
1–3 weeks · single automation, simple tool, or audit
Core builds
$15k – $50k
4–10 weeks · custom internal tool, dashboard, or AI agent
Full systems
$50k – $150k+
8–20 weeks · multi-component product, full back-office rebuild
Ongoing partnership
$3k – $10k / mo
Retainer after launch · tuning, expansion, fractional CTO

We'll always give you an exact number after the explore phase. If the range above doesn't fit, we'll say so on the first call.

Let's build

Ready to start the explore phase?

One 30-minute call. No deck, no pressure. We'll either be a great fit or send you somewhere better.

Book a consultation →