Act like you own it

This last one is controversial and is the toughest to pull off, which is why it's our secret sauce. When working on a project for a client each of us is an owner in that project.

We don't believe in the common model of a "product owner" that's responsible, dictating piecemeal work down the chain. Instead, we believe deeply in T-shaped generalists that work across the project to ensure it succeeds. We're top-tier product engineers, and don't need handholding.

That's why, when you work with us, you'll work directly with the engineers that build the product. If you have a question about the project then they'll have the deep insight needed to give you an accurate answer. There's no lengthy game of telephone being played between a salesperson, a business analyst, a product owner and eventually an engineer.

This means that the number of points for misunderstanding to creep in is vastly reduced. We can be straightforward with each other and move quickly.

As a bonus, the financial model of our company encourages us to be lean. We can build small teams of fully equipped staff rather than bloated teams where no one can operate independently. This leads to a higher quality product being built, for a lower price.

We always try to line up our incentives so that it's obvious that we're all sitting on the same side of the table. That can lead to interesting conversations early on (we sometimes worry that we're unusual for pushing clients to think about perverse incentives), but we believe - in our bones! - that this behaviour will result in every engagement being a win-win.