From the studio
Business and Scale
SaaS economics, pricing, multi-tenancy, freelance vs studio vs agency, the business of building products.
Latest
Manufacturing software development partner: a 2026 buyer's brief
Two EU deadlines land in September 2026: CRA vulnerability reporting and Data Act access by design. What to vet in a manufacturing software partner.
SaaS development agency in Italy: how to choose one in 2026
Five checks before signing with an Italian SaaS development agency: NIS2 supplier duties, AI Act Article 50, and EAA fines up to 40,000 euros.
Fintech development studio: what to vet on KYC, PSD3 and DORA
DORA applies since January 2025, the EU AML rulebook from July 2027, EUDI wallet acceptance from 2027. What to check before hiring a fintech build partner.
SOW vs MSA: which contract structure protects your SaaS build
An MSA sets the legal terms once; an SOW scopes each project. Get the order of precedence wrong and scope creep, worth 15 to 27% of a budget, becomes a dispute.
Software agency contract red flags: 8 clauses to check in 2026
Eight clauses decide who owns your code, when you pay, and how you leave. Here are the software agency contract red flags to catch before you sign in 2026.
Agency vs freelancer for MVP: a 2026 decision framework
Freelancers quote less and agencies quote more, but the real MVP risk is continuity, code ownership, and scope. Here is how to choose in 2026.
How to brief a software development agency for a SaaS build
Unclear requirements sink more software projects than any other cause. Here is the 7-part brief that gets you accurate, comparable quotes from a studio.
10 mistakes founders make hiring a SaaS studio in 2026
Only about 31% of software projects ship on time and on budget. Most of that risk is decided when you pick the studio. The 10 mistakes that cost founders most.
What a discovery phase delivers (and what it should not)
A discovery phase turns a vague software idea into a scoped, costed plan in one to six weeks. What it delivers, what it costs, and its four limits.
SaaS activation metric: Slack's 2,000-message rule
An activation metric marks the moment a user first hits your product's core value. Slack's is 2,000 messages sent in 30 days, which predicts 93% retention.
Discovery phase cost in 2026: what to pay and what to refuse
A discovery phase runs $5,000 to $30,000, or 5% to 10% of the build it prices. Here is what that fee has to buy, and the two price signals that say no.