Dashhold

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Engineering studio engagement — pods, sprints, pricing , and the SOW shape

No vague pitch deck. The exact engagement shape, pod composition, sprint cadence, and pricing range we use on every build.

Engagement shape

The phases every Dashhold engagement runs through

  1. Strategy call

    We listen, ask, and either agree on a scoping sprint or tell you we are not the right team. About one in three calls ends with us suggesting a different studio.

    30 minutes

    Free

  2. Scoping sprint

    Architecture sketch, milestone plan, fixed proposal for the build phase. Refundable if you choose not to proceed and we did not deliver useful artifacts.

    1 week

    Fixed fee, $5k–$10k

  3. Build sprints

    Working demo at the end of each sprint. Pod size set in scoping. Scope changes surface in the demo, never silently.

    Two-week cycles

    Fixed monthly rate per pod

  4. Hand-off

    Documentation, runbooks, walkthrough sessions for your team, on-call training, and a 30-day care window for any defects we shipped.

    1–2 weeks

    Included

  5. Optional retainer

    Ongoing maintenance, feature work, or roadmap ownership. Most retainers run 6 to 18 months.

    Monthly, opt-out anytime

    Fixed monthly rate

Pod composition

Who is on a Dashhold pod, and what they own

  • Tech Lead

    1

    Owns architecture, code review, and the relationship with your engineering leadership. Senior, hands-on, on every demo.

  • Senior Engineers

    2–3

    Production-grade implementation. Each senior owns a vertical (ledger, KYC, dashboard, etc.) end-to-end.

  • Designer

    0–1

    Optional, scoped per engagement. Focused on operator and admin surfaces; not a brand designer.

  • Studio leadership

    Shared

    Founder/principal involvement on weekly steering and on every release decision. Not a billable line item.

Pricing range

What engagements cost, in honest ranges

Focused build

$40k–$60k

per month

One pod, 2–3 senior engineers plus a tech lead. Fits most fintech, CRM, and dashboard MVPs.

Standard build

$60k–$90k

per month

One full pod with design. Most production-grade fintech, marketplace, and AI engagements run here.

Multi-pod

$120k+

per month

Two pods running in parallel for larger or time-pressured platforms. Custom shape per engagement.

Ranges are honest, not marketing-soft. If we cannot deliver inside the range we will say so on the strategy call.

Engagement FAQ

The questions buyers ask before signing

What is the typical engagement length?
Most builds run 12 to 24 weeks. We have done shorter focused sprints (4 to 8 weeks) when scope is genuinely small, and longer multi-quarter retainers where we own a roadmap. The first scoping conversation lands on a length the team can plan around.
How are pods structured?
A standard pod is two to four senior engineers, a tech lead, and design when needed. Larger engagements add a second pod. We do not run nine-person teams — pod size is fixed at sizes a senior tech lead can run without becoming a project manager.
What does a typical engagement cost?
Fixed monthly rate per pod. Most engagements land between $40k and $90k per month all-in, depending on pod size and scope. Some retainers are higher; nothing is lower than $40k. We share the rate before any contract is signed and we never quote ranges in marketing copy that we will not honor in the proposal.
Who owns the code?
You do, on day one. Source lives in your repo, infra runs in your cloud, and we hand off documentation and runbooks before we leave. No proprietary middleware, no lock-in, no NDA-shaped exit.
What is your scope-change process?
Scope changes are visible to the whole team. We do not slip in change orders. Every two weeks, in the demo, we surface the trade-offs of any change being requested: what shifts, what slips, what comes out. The team decides; we ship to the new shape.
Do you sign NDAs and BAAs?
Yes. We sign mutual NDAs as a default. We sign BAAs for healthcare engagements where we will see PHI. We do not sign one-sided NDAs that limit our ability to discuss general engagement experience.

Let's build it together

Ready to scope an engagement?

A 30-minute strategy call to figure out which shape fits, with a written summary you can take to your team.

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