Working together
Written for whoever has to justify the spend and defend the process internally.
Pricing structure is published; numbers are not, because a rate quoted without scope is a number designed to be wrong.
Engagement models
Embedded team
A cross-functional squad joins your organisation and works inside your process, standups, and repositories. You direct priority; we bring practice and delivery discipline.
- Team shape
- Typically 4–7: tech lead, 2–4 engineers, product designer, part-time delivery lead
- Commercial structure
- Monthly retainer against a named team, rate-carded by role seniority
- Best for
- Sustained roadmap work where scope will legitimately change as you learn
- Typical duration
- 6 months minimum, reviewed quarterly
Fixed-scope delivery
A defined outcome with an agreed specification, milestone schedule, and acceptance criteria. We carry the delivery risk within the agreed scope.
- Team shape
- Sized to the specification; named leads fixed for the engagement duration
- Commercial structure
- Fixed fee against milestones, with a change-control process for scope movement
- Best for
- Migrations, integrations, and well-understood builds with a hard deadline
- Typical duration
- 8 weeks to 12 months
Product ownership
We take operational ownership of a product or platform — roadmap, delivery, and on-call — against agreed service levels.
- Team shape
- Standing team with a named service owner and documented escalation path
- Commercial structure
- Monthly platform fee with service levels and defined response commitments
- Best for
- Systems that matter but sit outside your core engineering focus
- Typical duration
- 12 months, annually renewed
Contracting path
Legal and technical tracks run in parallel deliberately. Sequencing them is what turns a four-week start into a four-month one.
- 01
Qualification call
Sixty minutes with the people who would actually lead the work — never a salesperson reading from a deck. We establish whether the problem is one we should take.
Week 0
- 02
Technical discovery
A paid, short, fixed-fee assessment producing an architecture position, risk register and delivery estimate you own outright — including if you take it elsewhere.
Weeks 1–3
- 03
Master services agreement
Commercial and legal terms negotiated once. We work from your paper where your legal function requires it, and our standard MSA is available for review before you commit.
Runs in parallel
- 04
Statement of work
Scope, milestones, acceptance criteria, named team and rates for the specific engagement, executed under the MSA.
Week 3–4
- 05
Kickoff
Environments provisioned, access granted under least privilege, first increment agreed. You see running software inside the first two weeks.
Week 4
The discovery output is yours outright — including if you take it to another studio.
Technical discovery is deliberately paid and deliberately small. It produces an architecture position, a risk register and a delivery estimate you own with no strings attached. If that document convinces you to do the work in-house, the engagement did its job.
What we need from you
- 01A named decision-maker who can commit
- 02Access to the engineers who own the current system
- 03Clarity on the constraint you cannot move
- 04A budget band, even a rough one
Common questions
How much does it cost to work with Acorn Code Lab?
Acorn Code Lab publishes pricing structure rather than rates, because a number quoted without scope is a number designed to be wrong. Embedded teams are a monthly retainer against a named team, rate-carded by role seniority. Fixed-scope delivery is a fixed fee against milestones. Product ownership is a monthly platform fee with defined service levels. A budget band is agreed during the first call.
What engagement models does Acorn Code Lab offer?
Three: an embedded team that joins your organisation and works to your priorities; fixed-scope delivery against an agreed specification and milestone schedule where the studio carries delivery risk; and product ownership, where Acorn Code Lab takes operational responsibility for a product or platform against agreed service levels.
How long does it take to start an engagement?
About four weeks from first call to kickoff. A sixty-minute qualification call, a short paid technical discovery producing an architecture position and delivery estimate, then a statement of work executed under a master services agreement — with the legal and technical tracks running in parallel rather than in sequence.
Does Acorn Code Lab work with clients outside Africa?
Yes. Acorn Code Lab contracts with international clients and regularly executes under English law where a client’s legal function requires it. Governing law and dispute forum are negotiable in the master services agreement.
Do you own the discovery output if we do not proceed?
Yes. Technical discovery is paid, short and fixed-fee, and the architecture position, risk register and delivery estimate it produces are yours outright — including if you take them to another studio or build in-house.
If you don’t, that is the first thing we will work out together.