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ENGINEERING

Custom software development for startups

Custom software development for startups is senior engineering that takes a product from first code to a system that holds up under real users. Scale-ups and established teams hire the same engineers to fix, audit or extend it.

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Led by Thanos GkanasCo-Founder, engineering

The drawing shows a startup's software as a stack of layers and, under it, one check per layer, with the data layer flagged because a restore was never tested.

Use us for software development consulting when you need a second opinion. When the code has to be written, fixed or run, we do the hands-on work: AI-built prototypes, MVPs, backend development services, DevOps, cloud and audits.

01THE FULL LIST

Ten engineering services, one senior team

Each service has its own page, scope and engagement options.

  1. AI code fixes

    Senior review and repair for apps built with AI coding tools: security, data and scale problems found, ranked and fixed.

  2. Crisis response

    Senior help when production is down, a release failed or a vendor vanished: stabilize first, then fix the cause.

  3. MVP development

    Scope the smallest product that proves demand, then build it with senior engineers on code you can grow.

  4. Fractional CTO

    A senior part-time CTO for architecture, hiring, vendors and the roadmap, without a full-time salary.

  5. DevOps consulting

    CI/CD, infrastructure as code, monitoring and on-call that a small team can run, set up with your developers.

  6. Cloud consulting

    Cloud architecture, migration, security and cost control on AWS, Google Cloud or Azure, sized for your next stage.

  7. Code audit

    An independent source code audit of security, architecture, tests and delivery risk, written up as a ranked fix list.

  8. Technical due diligence

    Code, architecture, security, team and scale risk, reviewed for investors and founders before a round or an acquisition.

  9. Team augmentation

    Senior engineers who take tickets from your board, review the hard parts and plan the handover from the first week.

  10. AI integration

    LLM features, AI agents, retrieval and evaluation built into your product, with cost and safety controls that hold up in production.

02IN BRIEF

Which engineering service to start with

Start with the problem that is costing you most right now, not with the service that sounds biggest. Each of these has its own page:

Backend development: what a startup actually needs

Backend development services build the part of the product users never see: the APIs, the data model, sign-in and permissions, payments, background jobs and the connections to other tools. For a startup, the backend decides how fast you can add features later and how much a mistake costs when it happens. We design it around the next stage of the plan, not a guess at the distant future.

In practice that means a data model you can change without taking the product offline, and tests on the paths that handle money and personal data. It also means logs and alerts that say what failed and why, and documentation a new engineer can follow. Where an existing backend is fragile, we start with an audit and fix the riskiest parts first. We change the rest in small releases, so the product keeps running while it improves.

Why startup systems fail as they grow

Startup systems tend to fail in the same few places, and none of them is exotic. One engineer holds all the knowledge. Deploys are manual, so releases are rare and risky. Secrets sit in the code. Nothing alerts anyone until a customer complains. The paths that matter have no tests, so every change feels dangerous. AI-generated code adds its own pattern: plausible code that skips error handling, access checks and input validation.

Our approach is the same each time. We find the single point of failure and write it down. We fix the cause rather than the symptom. Then we add the guardrail that stops it coming back, such as a test, an alert, a pipeline step or a runbook. The work ends with a handover, so the fix never depends on us staying around.

03

Engineering help by stage

The right engineering help depends on where the company is. Pick your stage to see which services usually come first.

Your stage
  1. Illustration of a system at pre-seed

    Pre-seed

    An idea, a prototype or an AI-built app, and no senior engineer yet to say what is solid.

  2. Illustration of what a system adds at seed

    Seed

    Real users and a small team, and the code now has to hold up while you hire and ship faster.

  3. Illustration of what a system adds at Series A and later

    Series A+

    A growing platform or an established product, where cloud costs, uptime, investor questions and new AI features all land at once.

04HOW ENGAGEMENTS WORK

Our custom software development process

Every engineering engagement follows the same three steps, so you always know where things stand.

  1. 01

    Audit

    We read the code, the infrastructure and the incident history, and talk to whoever built it. You get a written risk list ranked by impact, with the first fixes named.

  2. 02

    Build

    We fix, build or rebuild in your repository, behind tests and code review, in small releases you can check as they land.

  3. 03

    Ship

    We release to production with monitoring and a rollback path, then hand over docs, runbooks and access so your team can run the system without us.

Thanos Gkanas

05

Engineering is led by Thanos Gkanas

Thanos is our co-founder and Head of Engineering. He leads architecture, AI code fixes, crisis response and infrastructure work, and every engineering service on this page.

Every system has a single point of failure. My job is to find yours before your users do.

Thanos GkanasCO-FOUNDER · ENGINEERING
Thanos Gkanas
Co-Founder & Head of Engineering
Thanos's profileLinkedIn

06TOGETHER

Need product help too?

Building a SaaS product and need product decisions made alongside the code? Our SaaS product development services put Roger and Thanos on one plan, from research to release.

Product and engineering

07INSIGHTS

Engineering guides from Thanos

Guides by Thanos answer the questions behind these services, from "What is MVP in software development?" to when a fractional CTO makes sense. Others cover what goes wrong when apps are vibe coded and how technology due diligence works before a raise. Our alert on OpenAI API deprecations lists the shutdown dates that affect AI features.

  • AI CODE FIXINGGUIDE

    How to measure and reduce technical debt

    How to measure technical debt, the types that hurt startups most, and a step-by-step way to reduce technical debt while you keep shipping features.

    Thanos Gkanas

  • AI CODE FIXINGGUIDE

    Is vibe coding bad? What breaks when AI-written code reaches users

    Vibe coding is fast until real users arrive. What breaks when AI-written code ships, which apps are fine to build this way and the checks that catch problems early.

    Thanos Gkanas

  • STARTUP ENGINEERINGGUIDE

    The MVP development process, step by step

    The MVP development process in six steps, from the riskiest assumption to a launch decision, with MVP testing methods and minimum viable product examples.

    Thanos Gkanas

08FAQ

Questions about custom software development for startups

What does custom software development for startups include?

It covers the engineering a startup needs from first code to scale: architecture, MVP builds, fixes for AI-built apps, backend and API work, and DevOps and cloud setup. It also covers code audits, due diligence, AI features and extra senior engineers. You can buy one piece as advice or hands-on work, or several as one engagement.

How do I choose the right custom software development partner?

Ask who will write and review the code, how decisions are recorded, how often you see working software, who holds the accounts and repositories, and what the handover includes. Ask to see a sample report or plan. A good partner answers in plain words, names the risks early and leaves your team able to run the system without them.

What does your custom software development process look like?

It runs in three steps. In the audit we read the code, infrastructure and history and rank the risks. In the build we fix or build in your repository behind tests and review, in small releases. In the ship step we release with monitoring and a rollback path, then hand over docs and runbooks your team can use.

Is software development consulting enough, or do we need people writing code?

Consulting is enough when you have engineers who can carry out the advice and you need a second opinion on architecture, hiring or a vendor quote. You need people writing code when there is no senior engineer, when the backlog is blocked or when production is at risk. Startup IT consulting that stops at advice leaves those gaps open.

Which languages, frameworks and clouds do you work with?

We work across the stacks startups commonly use for web products, APIs and mobile apps, on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure, and with code produced by AI coding tools. Before any build we check your stack in the audit. If part of it is outside what we know well, we say so upfront instead of learning on your budget.

Can you work alongside an agency or freelancers we already use?

Yes. We can act as your technical lead and review what an agency or freelancers deliver, or work inside the same repository as one more senior engineer. We agree who owns which part of the system, how code gets reviewed and how releases happen, so the work stays coordinated and nobody is surprised by a change.

Do you take over codebases someone else started?

Yes. A codebase started by a freelancer, an agency, a former co-founder or an AI coding tool is a normal starting point. We begin with an audit to learn how the system works and where it is fragile, then fix the riskiest parts before adding features. You get a clear picture before you commit to more work.

NEXT STEP

Show us the code

Book a 20-minute call and bring a short description of the product, the stack and what is going wrong.

You’ll talk to Thanos

Book a 20-minute call (opens Google Calendar in a new tab)Production down? Get help