STAGE // S01
Fit conversation
30 min · no charge · /book
- Five-step qualifying agenda — context, desired future state, decision-makers, factors, next step
- Mutual qualification, not a pitch
- Outcome: engage, decline, or refer
// HOW TO ENGAGE AUD · EX-GST
Diagnose first. Then we price.
The real number for your project comes from a paid five-day diagnostic — not from a tier on a website.
Standing menus price the deliverable. We price the value at stake. That requires a conversation about your specific situation, a diagnosis, then three options built for your actual problem. The diagnostic is paid because real thinking can't be free — and because clients who'll pay A$1,800 to know are clients we can actually help.
// THE FOUR STAGES
Every engagement runs the same path.
Same four stages whether the work is a Solidity audit, a dApp conversion, a custom-software build, or a long-running retainer. The order matters. We do not skip the diagnostic.
STAGE // S02
5-Day Diagnostic
A$1,800 fixed · credited forward · the only published price
- One offer. One price. Same for everyone.
- Written diagnosis + prescription + three-option engagement letter for the work that follows
- Full A$1,800 applies as a deposit against any engagement signed within 30 days
STAGE // S03
Engagement letter
One page · three options · derived from the diagnostic
- Three priced options — built for your specific problem, not a website menu
- Price stated verbally in the call before it ever lands on paper
- Same document is the proposal and the contract
STAGE // S04
Sign
Firm signs first · client adds the second signature
- 40 / 30 / 30 milestone schedule for project work
- Net 7 invoicing on retainer work
- Three-month initial term then month-to-month — no twelve-month lock-ins
// 5-DAY DIAGNOSTIC — THE ONE PUBLISHED PRICE
Got something? Hand it over.
Five business days. One fixed price. Anything that fits in that window — an audit, a prototype, a stuck integration, a discovery sprint, a small build. You describe the problem; we ship the diagnosis, the prescription, and the engagement letter for the work that follows.
DIAGNOSTIC // T00
5-Day Diagnostic
Diagnose · prescribe · price. The first paid step on every engagement.
A$1,800
fixed
ex-GST · 5 business days · 50 / 50 milestones · credit-forward within 30 days
// THE DELIVERABLE
- Written diagnosis — situation, constraints, root causes
- Prescription — what to do, in what order, with what trade-offs
- Three-option engagement letter, priced for your specific problem
- Risk register — what could go wrong, what we plan around
// EVERY DIAGNOSTIC INCLUDES
- Kickoff call to lock the diagnostic scope (45 min)
- Daily Slack / Discord update
- Codebase / contract / architecture review where applicable
- 60-min walkthrough of the diagnosis + prescription on day 5
// WHY WE WORK THIS WAY
The doctor doesn't quote before the X-ray.
A price quoted before a diagnosis is a guess. The studio quotes after the diagnostic because anything earlier is either dangerously low or padded to cover ignorance — neither serves you.
The price for the engagement is stated out loud, in a range, in the closing call — before anything goes on paper. Surprises caught early on a call are cheap. Surprises caught late on a signed PDF are not.
Every engagement letter offers three options derived from your diagnostic — high, low, and middle. You pick the risk shape that fits the work, not a generic tier off a website.
// QUESTIONS WE GET
FAQ.
Is the 5-Day Diagnostic always the first paid step?
Yes. Every engagement is preceded by a paid diagnostic. The 5-Day Diagnostic at A$1,800 produces the written diagnosis, the prescription, and the three-option engagement letter that follows. The full A$1,800 credits forward against any engagement signed within 30 days — net-zero if you proceed, you keep the diagnosis if you don't.
Why don't you publish project prices?
Prices on a website price the deliverable. We price the value at stake — and that requires a conversation about your specific situation, then a diagnosis, then three options derived from that diagnosis. A standing tier table can't do that. The 5-Day Diagnostic exists to produce a real number for a real problem rather than a guess for a generic one.
What if I just want a quote?
We don't quote without a diagnosis. If a number on a page is what you need to move forward, we're not the right studio for the work — and we'd rather you find a better fit than receive a number that disappoints us both later. The way in is the diagnostic.
We've got a JS / TS dApp catching runtime errors in production — can you convert it to Elm?
Yes. It's a productised offering. We rewrite the brittle wallet / transaction / contract layers using our published intrepidshape/elm-web3 + elm-web3-ui libraries (24 components covering the dApp shapes — wallet connect, tx lifecycle, DeFi primitives). Bring your existing CSS. Starts with the same 5-Day Diagnostic — we audit the runtime-exception surface and the conversion is priced against the actual scope.
How do you compare to offshore?
We don't compete on price with offshore — they'll always be cheaper. We compete on accountability, timezone overlap, native English, and the founder picking up the phone when something breaks. If your project is commodity CRUD, you may be better served elsewhere.
Lock-in?
Three-month initial term covers setup amortisation on retainers. After that, month-to-month with 30-day notice. No twelve-month lock-ins — AU SMBs are right to be sceptical of them.
Can we pay in crypto?
Yes. The studio is PulseChain-domiciled — receive address is 0xC002307bE302dEE8FDc312592BD32c997aE78499 on chainID 369. Accepted: native PLS, pHEX, PLSX, INC, plus PulseChain-bridged stables (DAI, USDC.e). Spot rate locked at invoice issue; we credit the AUD-equivalent amount received against the engagement. Same address format works on Ethereum mainnet (chainID 1) if you'd prefer ETH-side stables.
What about US clients?
We bill US clients in AUD with a USD reference line. You still effectively undercut your domestic options 20–30%, we earn fair AU compensation, FX risk stays with you. Cross-border services are GST-free.
// LAUNCH
Ready to start the diagnostic?
Pick a slot for the 30-minute fit conversation. If we're a good fit, the next step is the 5-Day Diagnostic. If we're not, we'll say so on the call and refer where we can.