Solutions architect
The data model, the integrations, and the build order are decided before a line of code, so the scope you see is the scope you get.
A senior full-stack engineer costs $150,000–$230,000 per year in salary, plus equity, benefits, recruiting fees, and onboarding time. For an early-stage founder building v1, that is often the wrong investment before the product has validated anything. Lab Twelve is the alternative: senior engineering execution at a fixed project price, no equity, no headcount, no 6-month recruiting cycle. The right time to hire in-house is after you know what you are building. Until then, a fixed-scope build and an async dev lane give you senior output without the commitment.
One fixed price buys a whole product team in one: architect, designer, and AI-native engineer.
The data model, the integrations, and the build order are decided before a line of code, so the scope you see is the scope you get.
Interface, flow, and brand are designed for this build, not dropped onto a template. The finished app looks like it was meant to ship.
Senior execution at AI speed, in production with the source code in your hands. One builder with the range of a whole product team.
| Senior judgment, no hiring process | Included |
|---|---|
| Equity-free engagement | Included |
| Dev lane for ongoing work post-v1 | Included |
| Pause when demand is low | Included |
| No onboarding ramp | Included |
Senior judgment, no hiring process: Brian is the engineer
Equity-free engagement: Cash project pricing only
Dev lane for ongoing work post-v1: $2,500–$5,000/mo vs $12,500–$20,000/mo in-house
Pause when demand is low: In-house headcount is a fixed cost
No onboarding ramp: Execution starts from day 1 of the build
| Full-time embedded team member | Not in base scope |
|---|---|
| On-call incident response | Not in base scope |
| Organizational management presence | Not in base scope |
Full-time embedded team member: Lab Twelve is async; in-house is synchronous
On-call incident response: Not our model; plan for that separately
Organizational management presence: If you need a CTO, that is a different role
A representative ScopeSpec ticket. Yours is assembled live from the scope chat, priced by the engine, and locked before you pay.
6–12 week recruiting cycle
Job post → screen → interview loops → offer → onboarding.
Scope and start in days
AI scope chat → fixed quote → build begins same week.
$150k–$230k/yr all-in cost
Salary + equity + benefits + management overhead.
$1,950–$6,950 per build
No equity, no benefits, no management overhead.
When you need a full-time embedded engineer for rapid product iteration, organizational presence, or team leadership at Series A+. The async model works pre-product-market-fit; in-house makes sense after.
Often yes. Dev Lane Lite at $2,500/month is roughly one week of part-time senior engineer time, delivered async with no coordination overhead.
Source code is yours. Your new hire inherits a production codebase with docs, not a black box. The handoff is designed for it.
No agency to manage, no roster to assemble. The whole team, one number, source code in your hands.