From Idea to Launch in 6 Weeks
How we helped a fintech startup go from concept to deployed MVP in just six weeks, enabling them to close their seed round.
Key Results
MVP launched in 6 weeks
Seed round closed within 30 days of launch
Zero critical bugs in first 3 months
Codebase handed off to internal team successfully
The Challenge
A fintech startup had a promising concept and investor interest, but needed a working product to close their seed round. Their timeline: six weeks until the investor deadline.
They had tried working with a dev shop previously, but after two months and significant spend, they had little to show for it.
Our Approach
Week 1: Scope and Architecture
We spent the first week understanding exactly what was needed for the investor demo versus nice-to-haves. The result: a focused feature set that demonstrated the core value proposition.
Architecture decisions prioritized:
- Speed of development
- Ability to scale later
- Clean handoff to future internal team
Weeks 2-4: Core Development
Rapid iteration with daily demos. The founder could see progress every day and provide feedback that was incorporated immediately.
We focused on:
- Core transaction flow
- Essential compliance checks
- Clean, intuitive UI
- Basic admin dashboard
Week 5: Polish and Edge Cases
With core functionality complete, we addressed edge cases, improved error handling, and polished the user experience. This is where most MVPs fall apart—we didn’t skip it.
Week 6: Deployment and Documentation
Production deployment on AWS with proper monitoring, logging, and alerting. Documentation for the internal team that would eventually take over.
The Outcome
The MVP launched on schedule. The investor demo went smoothly, and the seed round closed within a month.
More importantly, when the startup hired their first engineer, the handoff was clean. The codebase followed conventions, had test coverage, and included documentation that actually helped.
Technical Details
- Stack: Next.js, Node.js, PostgreSQL
- Infrastructure: AWS (ECS, RDS, CloudFront)
- Third-party: Plaid, Stripe
- Monitoring: Datadog
Key Takeaways
- Scope ruthlessly: An MVP that ships beats a feature-rich product that doesn’t
- Daily visibility: Regular demos catch misalignments early
- Plan for handoff: The code needs to outlive your involvement
"They understood that speed mattered but never cut corners on quality. The code they delivered was cleaner than what our previous full-time engineers produced."
Founder
Fintech Startup
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