FAQ
Downshift FAQ
Pricing, process, the Public Build campaign, and how we compare to freelance, no-code, and boilerplates. The same answers we give on calls, written down so you can skim.
For specifics, follow the links into /pricing/, /process/, /build-publicly/, and the comparison pages.
01
About Downshift
What we are, who we are, and how we work.
What is Downshift?
Downshift is a venture-partner engineering shop. It deploys a pod of two or more senior engineers into a venture, with one of them holding the technical co-founder seat, and ships a production-grade MVP for non-technical founders. Most go live in two to four months. Daily AI-native development, an upfront estimate, then a monthly engagement to keep running the product. Not an agency in the dev-shop sense and not a freelance marketplace.
Who does Downshift partner with?
Early-stage founders building AI-native ventures. Across SaaS, FinTech, EdTech, B2C, B2B, and consumer products. Whether you are pre-funding or preparing for your first raise, Downshift brings co-founder-level commitment to help you build a real company.
How is Downshift different from an agency or dev shop?
Downshift is not an agency. It is a venture partner. You work directly with exited founders and senior engineers who have built and scaled real startups. No account managers. No ticket queues. Downshift owns outcomes, not deliverables.
Do you have experience in my industry?
Yes. Downshift has co-built ventures across FinTech, EdTech, SaaS, B2B, marketplaces, music education, AI media generation, fleet operations, sports communities, and cybersecurity. The case studies on /case-studies/ are a representative sample.
Who actually writes the code?
Senior engineers using AI-native tooling (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex). No juniors. No offshore handoffs. The same people on the kickoff call are the people shipping commits the next morning.
02
Pricing and engagement
Upfront estimate, then monthly. Zero equity by default.
How much does a Downshift engagement cost?
There is no single number. An upfront estimate covers the build to a live MVP, then the engagement continues monthly. Eight things move the estimate: pod size, duration, how many surfaces are being built, how many external systems the product integrates with, how deep the AI work goes, whether compliance is in scope, whether Downshift is starting fresh or inheriting a codebase, and what already exists. All eight are explained on /pricing/. The estimate is written down before any work starts.
Why did Downshift stop quoting a fixed price?
Because a co-founder seat is not a deliverable with a number stapled to it. Quoting a one-time project figure misrepresented an engagement that continues well past launch, and it set founders up for a surprise later. The fixed price survives in exactly one place: the Production Gap Audit, which is bounded at five business days and priced at $2,500.
Does the estimate include design?
Yes. Product design, UX, and UI are part of the pod. Downshift does not bolt design on as a separate vendor or a separate line item.
Do you take equity?
Not by default. Engagements are cash-first and you keep 100 percent of your company. Equity is a variant Downshift proposes when it wants exposure to the upside, and it is always a conversation rather than a condition.
Why not show hourly rates?
Founders should not pay for time. They should pay for a product that works and a team that keeps it working. Hourly billing rewards slowness. If the scope moves, the estimate moves, and you see it before the change happens.
What if the budget is small?
A pod of two or more senior engineers has a real cost floor, and Downshift will say so on the first call rather than three weeks into a proposal. If the budget is not there yet, two honest options remain. The Production Gap Audit at $2,500 buys the judgment without the engagement. The Public Build campaign carries no cash cost for a small number of founders each cycle who are willing to work in the open. Read /build-publicly/ first, then /build-publicly/apply/.
What happens after the MVP is live?
The same pod keeps running the product. Features, incidents, dependency patches, and the technical calls a non-technical founder should not have to make alone. That is the monthly engagement, and it is not a maintenance retainer handed to a different team.
03
Process
How we go from idea to a live product in two to four months.
How fast can you take a venture from idea to production?
Most ventures reach a live MVP in two to four months. Native mobile surfaces, regulated data, and heavy integration requirements run longer. The five engineering stages, validation, planning, architecture, development, and launch, are documented on /process/. Downshift commits to a date in the estimate rather than to a number on a marketing page.
Do you write PRDs before building?
Yes. Every engagement starts with a planning phase that produces detailed product requirement documents for every feature, a build calendar with milestones, and explicit success metrics. Building without a PRD is how scope drifts and timelines slip. We do not skip this step.
How involved does the founder need to be?
A few hours per week is typical. Daily check-ins are async by default with one or two synchronous calls per week. Founders who want to be deeply involved are welcome to. Founders who want to focus entirely on distribution and customer development can. The pod ships either way.
What does AI-native development actually mean?
Daily engineering on Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex with humans steering. The team reviews every change, owns architecture decisions, and maintains test coverage. AI accelerates the work. Senior engineers own the result.
How do I see progress during the build?
Daily commits on a repo you own from day one. A live staging URL. Weekly demo videos walking through the new functionality. For Public Build engagements, all of this is published publicly on /build-log/ and /build-publicly/transparency/.
04
Public Build campaign
A no-cash-cost build for selected founders willing to work in the open.
What is the Public Build campaign?
Downshift selects a small number of founders each cycle and builds their MVP at no cash cost in exchange for working publicly. Same engineering quality as the paid tiers. Build receipts and weekly progress posts are published throughout. Founders keep 100 percent code ownership and 100 percent of their company. Read /build-publicly/ for the full deal.
Who can apply?
Any founder who meets the bar. Strong evidence of distribution skill, a real problem worth solving, and willingness to work publicly. We are not looking for the founder with the best deck. We are looking for the founder most likely to ship distribution from the moment the product exists. Apply at /build-publicly/apply/.
What does "work publicly" actually mean?
Build receipts published on /build-log/. Weekly progress posts on X. Founder agrees to a public profile on the site once selected. The product itself does not need to be open-source; the build process is what is documented. /build-publicly/transparency/ has the full disclosure list.
Who owns the product after a Public Build?
The founder. Code, infrastructure, repo, IP. Downshift does not retain ownership. Public Build is free of cash cost, free of equity, and free of vendor lock-in. The deal is the public process; everything else stays with the founder.
How many slots are available?
A small number per cycle. We tighten the slate when the pod is at capacity and reopen when slots free up. Selection criteria favor distribution proof and willingness to ship publicly over polish or pitch quality.
05
Comparisons
When Downshift is the right call, and when it is not.
Should I hire a freelance developer or Downshift?
If you can write the spec, manage the project, and judge the code yourself, hire a freelance developer. If you cannot do all three, you need an agency or a co-founder. Downshift takes the spec, the project management, and the judgment off your plate. Full breakdown on /vs/freelance-developer/.
Should I start with no-code first?
Often yes. No-code is excellent for validation. Build the MVP in Bubble or Webflow for $5K to $15K, get your first 50 to 100 users, prove the value proposition. Then bring in Downshift to build the production version once you know what to build. Skipping validation and going straight to custom development is the most expensive mistake founders make. Full comparison on /vs/no-code/.
Why not just buy ShipFast or another boilerplate?
ShipFast is a great buy if you can code in Next.js and your bottleneck is boilerplate. Downshift is for non-technical founders whose bottleneck is engineering itself. ShipFast hands you a starter; Downshift hands you a running production product with real users. Full comparison on /vs/shipfast/.
Is Downshift a Buildspace replacement?
Not directly. Buildspace was a school. Downshift is an engineering shop. Buildspace taught you to build. Downshift builds with you (paid) or builds alongside you publicly (free, selective). Full comparison on /vs/buildspace/.
Can I build like Pieter Levels if I am non-technical?
Pieter's approach requires strong technical skills. Non-technical founders who admire his speed and output need a different path. Downshift provides the same velocity and ship-fast mentality through a dedicated engineering team, so you can focus on distribution while production code gets shipped. Full comparison on /vs/levels-io/.
06
Post-launch
What happens after the product is shipped.
What happens after launch?
The partnership does not end at launch. Downshift provides ongoing technical leadership, growth engineering, and a care plan to keep your product scaling. Plus, you get one year of the AI-powered StartLabs platform for continuous strategic support.
Can I hire someone from your team after the build?
We are open to it. The default now is that the pod stays and keeps running the product on a monthly engagement, because that is what most founders actually need. If a founder would rather build an in-house team, Downshift hands off to it. Architecture docs, conventions, and a running system on infrastructure the founder already owns. Both paths are on the table.
Will I be locked into your infrastructure or vendors?
No. The product ships to your accounts (Vercel, Railway, Cloudflare, Stripe, etc.) on day one. The repo is yours. The code is yours. The IP is yours. There is no vendor lock-in by design. If you fire Downshift the morning after launch, the product keeps running.
What if I want to migrate later?
The product is built so any senior engineering team can pick it up. Architecture docs are included. Type safety, test coverage, and conventional patterns are the default. Migration is rare because there is rarely anything to migrate; the product is already on standard, portable infrastructure.
Still have questions?
The fastest answer is a 30-minute call. The free path is the Public Build campaign. Manuel reads every reply on his personal site.