Invent Labs · Services index

Two ways to work together. Pick the shape that fits.

Engineering for when you need senior hands building the system. Advisory for when you need a sharper second opinion than the one your investors will give you.

// 01 — at a glance

Side by side. The shape of each engagement.

Engineering vs. Advisory
comparable, not interchangeable

// 01.a — pillar

Engineering

starting at $18k / mo

// 01.b — pillar

Advisory

starting at $6k / mo

// for

Teams that need a senior IC or technical lead to design, build, and ship a system that will be in production for years.

Teams that have a build team already, but want a sharper opinion on architecture, SaaS economics, or what to refactor next.

// what

›Cloud architecture & infrastructure design.
›Greenfield 0 → 1 builds.
›Event systems, data pipelines, multi-tenant platforms.
›Reliability engineering: SLOs, on-call, observability.

›Architecture reviews & technical due diligence.
›SaaS unit-economics modeling (COGS, CAC, retention).
›Scaling roadmaps: when to refactor or rewrite.
›Hiring & org design for early-stage engineering teams.

// shape

Embedded. Senior IC or tech lead working alongside your team. Daily standups, shared Slack, code review, the works.

Retainer. Monthly cadence of working sessions, written deliverables, and async availability for the in-between.

// commitment

3-month minimum, scope-based, with a written proposal up front.

6-month minimum, monthly retainer, cancellable with 30 days notice.

// who you'll work with

Direct. No agency layers, no junior pass-throughs.

Direct. Founder & CTO conversations stay between founder & principal.

engineering details→3 mo min

advisory details→6 mo min

// 02 — how to choose

Which mode is right? A short decision guide.

Honest framing
both are wrong sometimes

// Engineering — if any of these are true

You need the thing built, not just discussed.

01You have a system you need shipped, and the team to ship it doesn't exist yet — or doesn't yet exist at this seniority level.
02You're greenfield, and you want your foundation laid by someone who's done it before and won't need to rewrite it at customer 50.
03You have an existing system that has to scale 5–10×, and you'd rather have a senior IC inside the codebase than another consultant looking at it.
04You're a CTO carrying too much, and you need a peer-level engineer to take a real component off your plate.

// Advisory — if any of these are true

You have a team. You need a sharper opinion.

01Your engineering team is capable, but your architectural decisions feel under-informed — and a wrong one is expensive at your stage.
02Your unit economics aren't where they need to be, and you suspect the answer involves architecture choices as much as pricing.
03You're about to choose between rewrite, refactor, and live-with-it — and you'd like a structured second opinion before you commit.
04You're hiring engineers and want someone who's seen the senior side of the market to help calibrate level and comp.

// 03 — process

How an engagement starts. Same path for either pillar.

4 steps · ~10 business days
before a single hour is billed

// 01Day 0 – 1

Discovery call.

30 minutes. We learn what you're inventing, what's in the way, and whether we're the right fit. No pitch, no sales theatre.

// 02Day 1 – 5

Scoping & brief.

A short written exchange to align on goals, constraints, and the shape of the engagement. You can also send a structured brief up front.

// 03Day 5 – 10

Written proposal.

A precise proposal: scope, deliverables, timeline, price, exit terms. No pdfs that hide things in appendices. One page that says exactly what we'll do.

// 04Day 10 →

Engagement begins.

Kickoff, shared channel, weekly cadence, and a written status every Friday. The work starts. Outcomes are written down before the engagement ends.

// 04 — common questions

Common questions. Answered the way we'd want them answered.

5 of N · ask the rest on a call

// 01

Can we run both an Engineering and an Advisory engagement at once?

Yes — and many of the strongest engagements look exactly like that. Engineering for a specific build, Advisory as the strategic layer around it. Billed separately so each can be scoped or paused on its own terms.

// 02

Do you take equity in place of part of the fee?

Occasionally, and only for early-stage companies where the cap-table math actually works for both sides. Always combined with a market-rate cash component — never equity-only.

// 03

What if our needs are smaller than your minimums?

We'd rather refer you to someone whose model fits than under-serve you with ours. A short call usually surfaces whether we're the right shape — and we'll be direct about it if we aren't.

// 04

Do you work with non-technical founders?

Routinely. A non-technical founder with strong product instincts and a clear customer is often the best engagement we run. We translate between the build and the business.

// 05

What happens at the end of an engagement?

A handoff document, a recorded walkthrough of the system, and 30 days of post-engagement availability for questions that surface after we leave. Then we're out of your way until you want us back.

// next step

Tell us what you're inventing.

If you know which pillar you need, jump straight to it. Otherwise, a 30-minute call will surface whether either is the right fit.

book a discovery call→send a project brief→