Your agreement
The work, the ongoing responsibilities and any outcome pricing we agree with your business.
How it works
Agree the result. Do the work. Learn what changed.
Every project follows the same loop, whether it ends in software, research, a campaign or a partner pilot. You set the goal and fund the work, people and agents do it, a named person reviews the evidence, and you decide what comes next.
The loop: plan, build, operate
Six steps from a goal to a decision.
A simple project moves through them in a few lines. A bigger bet adds options, assumptions and stages. The steps stay the same.
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01 · Plan
Name the result.
Say what you want to change and how you'd know. A clear project needs a sentence; a big bet can add options, assumptions and the numbers behind them.
Comes out An agreed goal
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02 · Plan
Agree the work and fund a stage.
Milestones and tasks, each with a plain “done when”. You fund the next stage, with a ceiling, before work starts.
Comes out A funded stage
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03 · Build
Put a person on every task.
One accountable person per task, from your team, ours or both. Agents help; they are never the owner or the approver.
Comes out Clear ownership
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04 · Build
Do the work.
People and agents do what the stage needs: research, a campaign, a process change or code. Software goes to your coding agent, or our builders, as a work order.
Comes out Delivered work
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05 · Build
Check it against the “done when”.
Evidence fits the work. Software adds tests, code review and a preview on the pull request. A named person accepts or asks for changes.
Comes out Accepted work
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06 · Operate
Learn what changed, then decide.
Review the result over the window you agreed. Continue, change, pause or stop. A finished milestone isn't proof the goal was met.
Comes out A decision
Example · A mixed project
A bakery tests selling wholesale to cafés.
Research, an offer, a small piece of software and a pilot, in three funded stages. Ana owns the bakery and makes every decision.
| Stage | Work | Evidence reviewed | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Research | Call twelve cafés about prices, volumes and delivery. An agent helps compare suppliers. | A research note with its sources and the call notes. | Fund a pilot with five cafés. |
| 2 Pilot | A price sheet, a delivery schedule and a simple order form, built by a coding agent. | The price sheet, reviewed. The order form's tests, code review and preview on its pull request. | Ana accepts both. |
| 3 Review | Six weeks of orders, delivery costs and café feedback. | Orders, margin per delivery and what each café said. | Stop. Margins are too thin at this volume. Keep supplying the two best cafés by email and look again in spring. |
The pilot delivered everything it was asked to, and the opportunity still didn't hold up. Accepting the work and judging the result are separate decisions, and stopping early saved the next stage's budget.
Illustrative example, not a customer result.
Kept separate on purpose
Funded, delivered, accepted and working are four facts.
Each has its own evidence, so a busy project never looks like a successful one by accident. Activity, generated code and credit use show effort, not results.
- Funded The stage may run, within its ceiling. Not that it will work.
- Delivered The agreed work exists, with its evidence attached.
- Accepted A named person reviewed the evidence and signed off. An agent saying “done” never counts.
- Paid Managed builds are invoiced per accepted milestone; payment is confirmed separately.
- Working The business changed as intended, measured over the window you agreed.
After the work ships
Keep learning as the business changes.
Review the result against the window you agreed, then choose the next useful change. On a managed build, a monthly credit allotment covers operation and agreed improvements. An accepted release and a measured business outcome each have their own evidence.
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Observe
See what changed.
Customer evidence, system signals and the numbers you agreed to watch.
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Align
Agree what's next.
Use the results to choose the next change and what it's worth investing.
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Improve
Run the loop again.
The next change goes through the same steps, with the same checks.
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Prove
Accept against evidence.
Outcome fees apply only where they were agreed and the result was measured.
What the agreement connects
A shared purpose. Clear economics.
Builder pay
On managed builds, a separate agreement sets how builders are paid for accepted work. Activity and model usage never create payment on their own.
Agreed evidence
Each “done when” and any outcome measure make the commitments concrete for everyone involved.
On a managed build
What stays yours.
Milestone invoices fund agreed delivery. A monthly credit allotment funds continuing responsibilities. Outcome fees apply only when the agreed, measured result qualifies.
Explore outcome pricing-
Your data and domain
The business records, the rules and the address customers know belong to you.
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Your customer relationships
Your customers' accounts and every record about them belong to your business.
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Backup and export
Complete, restorable copies of your data, available any day, at no extra tier.
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A continuity commitment
If Steepworks ever winds down, escrowed source and a transition plan are released to you, as set out in our terms.
Bring the goal. We'll help you find the first project.
Describe the result you want. A brief is free and doesn't create an account.