We have built our own from nothing. That is the whole pitch.
Most agencies building for startups have never had to live with what they shipped. We have. Ilmino went from an empty repository to a platform with a question bank in the tens of thousands, AI marking, a mobile build and a Kubernetes cluster underneath it, and every shortcut we took came back to us rather than to a client. That is a different kind of advice from someone who invoices and leaves.
We have shipped this, not just pitched it.
Ilmino
Built from nothing to a platform with tens of thousands of questions, AI marking of handwritten work, a Flutter build and ten services on EKS. We own it and still run it.
Visit the site ↗Sell Any Vans
Zero to a live business taking enquiries, including the marketing that fills it.
Visit the site ↗The problems we are normally called in to fix.
The MVP is not minimum
Six months of building before anyone outside the team has used it is not an MVP, it is a bet. The first version should be embarrassing and in front of users.
The build outruns the runway
Scope grows to fill the money available. Without someone saying no, the runway ends before the product finds anyone.
Version one cannot carry version two
Prototype code that got you to a seed round is usually the thing blocking the next stage, and by then it is load-bearing.
No technical voice in the room
Non-technical founders end up unable to judge whether an estimate is fair or whether a decision is reversible, which is an expensive position to be in.
Software and marketing for startups & scale-ups.
MVP builds
The smallest thing that tests the actual question, shipped in weeks. We will argue for cutting scope, because that is usually the useful contribution.
Technical co-founder support
Someone in the room who can judge an estimate, a hire or an architecture decision, without you giving away equity for it.
Rebuilds and rescues
Taking a prototype that is now in the way and getting it to something that can be built on, usually in stages rather than a rewrite.
AI products
Generation, evaluation and quality gates, built by people who run an AI pipeline in production rather than a demo.
Infrastructure that fits the stage
A managed platform when that is right, and a proper cluster only when the traffic or the team justifies it. Most startups are sold the second far too early.
Investor-facing due diligence
Getting the code, the security and the documentation into a state that survives a technical review.
- custom-software-development
- ai-product-development
- mobile-app-development
- security-and-secure-development
- hosting-and-support
The commercial outcome we are aiming at.
- A first version in front of users in weeks rather than quarters
- Scope decisions made against runway rather than against enthusiasm
- A codebase that can carry the next stage rather than blocking it
- Technical answers you can take into a board meeting
Straight answers.
How fast can you build an MVP?
Six to twelve weeks for something real, and the range is about scope rather than speed. The first conversation is usually us arguing for less, because the fastest way to ship is to build less.
Do you take equity instead of fees?
No. Equity in place of payment tends to make an agency a bad shareholder and a distracted supplier, and you will want that stake for people who are there full time.
Can you work alongside our developer?
Yes, and it is common. Often the most useful thing is reviewing decisions and taking the parts nobody in the team has done before.
What if we need to hand it over later?
Then it should be built to be handed over from the start: documented, in your accounts, with the infrastructure as code. If a supplier makes that difficult, that is the point at which to worry.
Will you tell us not to build something?
Regularly. It is most of what a technical voice is for.
Tell us what question the first version needs to answer and how long the runway is, and you will get a straight view on what fits inside both.
A couple of lines is enough to start. You will get a straight answer on what it needs, what it costs and how long it takes.
Tell us what you need building and who it is for. You will hear back from the person who would do the work.
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