● FOR BUILDS PAST THE OFF-THE-SHELF CEILING
When the off-the-shelf SaaS stack can't do what your business needs — custom mobile apps, multi-tenant SaaS, marketplace platforms, integration middleware — we scope it, build it, and operate it. Porter or Alex personally runs every Discovery call.
Not for buyers under $40k or shopping for a brochure site. Foundation builds live at /start — this page is the founder-led custom track.
30-min discovery, no pitch. We tell you within 48 hours if we're the right fit — and refer out if we're not.
ENGAGEMENT_PROTOCOL · 03 STAGES
Aptitude 8's Strategy → Project → Retainer model — adapted for custom infrastructure builds. You only commit to the next stage if the current one delivered.
Free 30-min · $1,500 paid deep-dive
Porter or Alex runs the call personally. We produce a scoped one-pager with assumptions, pathways, low/high estimates, and risk factors. You walk away with a plan you can act on whether we build it or not.
$40k–$150k+ scoped
Fixed-scope, fixed-fee. Scoped → Quoted → Contracted before any code is written. Founders stay technical lead through ship — no handoff to a sales rep, no junior team swap mid-project.
$3k–$15k/mo retainer
Post-launch engineering ops. We monitor, fix, evolve, add features as your business grows. Two consultants per retainer — no key-person risk. Quarterly business review baked in.
Most clients run all three stages with us. A few do Discovery only and take the scoped plan to their internal team — that's fine, and we still get paid for the work.
CAPABILITY_MATRIX · 08 BUILD TYPES
iOS + Android. Native or React Native. Multi-tenant infrastructure on Firebase. Owner dashboards. Stripe Connect billing baked in.
Two-sided marketplaces with payments, dispute handling, KYC, ratings. Connect-flow built-in. Vendor onboarding playbook included.
Multi-tenant from day one. Per-tenant Firestore namespaces, role-based access, billing, audit logs. Built to your data model.
Customer-facing spec tools — choose, visualize, quote. Sheds, signage, modular furniture, architectural products. CAD-to-quote pipelines.
Bi-directional sync between your stack (CRM, ERP, warehouse) without Zapier. Cloud Run + Firestore queue. Built to survive vendor API changes.
Voice + chat + email agents tuned to your workflow. Claude or GPT. Tools include CRM lookup, calendar booking, transactional send.
Intake → OCR → structured extraction → validation → CRM commit. Process invoices, claims, contracts at human-review-only volume.
Bin-level tracking, pick/pack/ship orchestration, carrier rate-shopping, returns workflows. Integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, custom storefronts.
HOW_A_PROJECT_RUNS · 05 STEPS
No surprise change orders. No "we'll figure it out as we go." Every engagement runs the same five-step sequence.
Data model, user roles, integrations, success metrics, edge cases. You sign off on the spec before pricing.
Fixed-fee for the scoped work. Includes assumptions, change-order pathways, explicit risk factors. No hourly creep.
Statement of work, payment milestones, IP assignment, post-launch ops terms. Standard SLAs. Reviewable by your counsel.
Two-week sprint cadence. Working preview environment from week 2. Slack channel for daily questions; weekly demo calls.
We ship to production, monitor for 30 days post-launch as part of the project fee, then transition into the managed-ops retainer if you opted in.
No surprise change orders. Scope changes get a new line item, a new quote, and your signature — or we ship what was contracted and you decide later.
WHO_RUNS_THIS · 02 FOUNDERS
Co-founder · Architecture + RevOps
Multi-tenant CRM design, payments architecture, integration middleware, AI agent infrastructure. Built the WebDevAuto platform running at webdevauto.com.
Co-founder · Developer · mech.ai
Co-owner and developer at WebDevAuto. Also owns and builds mech.ai. Hands-on engineer across the stack — front-end, back-end, and the integration glue between them.
Every Discovery call is with Porter or Alex personally — not a sales rep, not a junior. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you within 48 hours and refer you to an agency or firm that is.
30-minute Discovery call with Porter or Alex. We walk through your data model, integration points, and ship constraints — and tell you honestly whether we're the right shop to build it.
Book Founder DiscoveryNo pitch. We refer out within 48 hours if we're not the right fit.