An MVP that can take a payment, not a theater demo
Speed matters. Fake speed does not. I build SaaS MVPs so a real user can sign up, use the core product, and pay, without a six-month architecture novel or a pile of "nice later" features dressed up as day-one scope.
I am a solo senior operator with 27 years in the stack. You work with me, not a junior bench behind an account manager. Budgeting the build honestly starts with understanding custom software project costs.
Who this is for
Founders with a clear buyer and a painful problem, ready to validate with paying users. If you need ongoing technical leadership without equity, pair this with technical co-founder for SaaS without giving up equity.
Teams that need auth, billing, admin, and 3–5 core features, not a clone of every competitor's roadmap. Stack picks should be boring on purpose: choosing the right technology stack for custom software.
Non-technical founders who want hands-on build plus straight talk on scope. Pair with technical co-founder service when you need ongoing product leadership after launch.
Who this is not for
Idea-only projects with no customer conversations. I will not burn your seed money polishing something nobody asked for.
"Uber for X" with marketplace liquidity fantasies and no wedge. Start narrower.
Founders who need a full-time CTO equity partner sitting in the office every day. That is a hire, not a service engagement.
What ships in an MVP
Auth that is boring and solid. Sign-up, login, reset, email verification. Optional social login when it helps activation.
Billing. Stripe subscriptions, trials, plan tiers. Revenue from day one is the point.
User app and admin. The screens that prove the product works, plus enough admin to support users without SSHing into a database.
Infrastructure you can grow. Hosting, monitoring, and a codebase that does not need a rewrite at customer number one hundred.
Stack is pragmatic: Nuxt/Vue or React where it fits, Node, PostgreSQL, Stripe, modern cloud hosts. I pick tools I can support, not a resume of trendy frameworks.
Timeline and money
A focused MVP often lands around 6–10 weeks when scope stays honest: planning and design up front, core build in the middle, test and launch at the end. You see a staging environment early, not a big reveal.
Cost tracks complexity like other custom software. Many SaaS MVPs sit in the $50K–$100K band; simpler internal-first products can land lower. Fixed-price after discovery, usually 30% kickoff, 40% midpoint when core features work, 30% at launch. Hosting often $200–$500/month depending on traffic; optional ongoing support from about $750/month after you are live.
After launch
Ship, measure, cut. The next features come from usage and revenue, not from the original brainstorm list. I can stay for iteration or help you hire.
Next step
Schedule a consultation. Bring the buyer, the pain, and the one workflow that must work. I will tell you what belongs in v1, what waits, and a number you can plan around.

