We design, build and connect the systems your business runs on, from the first sketch to a year after launch. Your team stays in charge while the routine steps run on their own.
AI makes apps look finished. Production makes them prove it.
Generative AI tools allow non-technical founders and fast-moving teams to prompt a prototype in an afternoon. But the chasm between an AI demo and a business people rely on is an architectural minefield: exposed database keys, leaky multi-tenancy, runaway token bills, and unmaintainable technical debt.
44%of AI code-generation tasks introduced a security vulnerability in tests of more than 100 AI models.
We get the money right first, make your product safe to keep building on, and put our name to it for 12 months.
01 The money math
We do the money math before we write code.
Pricing is hard to change once customers are paying, so we start there. Before we build, we work out what each customer will cost you every month (AI, hosting, payment fees) and the price at which you start making money. The screen above is the kind of problem it catches.
Spice Club, an AI recipe app from Saffron & Salt, charges $9 a month.
AI requests by one customer this month200
Price $9.00
Costs you $3.16You keep$5.84
Typical customer200 AI requests a monthCosts you $3.16You keep $5.84
High-usage customer5× as many: 1,000 requestsCosts you $12.76You lose $3.76
HOLDProfitable on average, but high-usage customers cost more than they pay. A usage limit, a smaller AI model or a higher-priced plan fixes that before launch.
Assumes about 1.2 cents per AI request, $0.20 a month for hosting and a 2.9% + $0.30 card fee. A rough estimate, not financial advice.
02 House rules
Keep building with your own AI, safely.
Every handover comes with instructions your AI assistant reads, and automatic checks that stop a release when a test fails.
01Your code, accounts and keys in your name
02Tests and automatic release checks
03AI instructions and an architecture map
04Runbook, backup restore and decision log
Release checks · saffron-appExample
$ run release-checks --env=production
✓Tests248 of 248 unit and end-to-end tests pass
✓Secrets0 API keys or tokens exposed in the app
✓Spend limitAI capped at $5.00 per user a month
✓Access rulesEach customer sees only their own data
✓BackupsRestore from backup tested
Runs before every release● Go for release
03 Signed for
We stand behind what we build for 12 months.
If something we built stops working as agreed within 12 months of launch, we fix it free. That stays true whoever builds next, as long as changes pass the release checks we handed over, unchanged.
✓ CoveredDefects in what we built, measured against your signed specification.
↗ Also coveredChanges by your team or another company, if they pass our unchanged checks.
✕ Not coveredNew features, skipped checks, provider outages or outside changes after launch.
Full terms are in your contract. Once work starts, we're one email away.
Guarantee · Spice Club appExample
12Months
Free fixes after launch
Measured against the specification you signed.
✓ Defects in what we built
✓ Holds whoever builds next
✓ Ask by email once work starts
Signed for Arvadya · launch day + 12 months
7 How we work
Start whereyou are.We'll take itfrom there.
Seven phases, one crew. Join at any phase, including with a prototype you built yourself.
Example project · Saffron & SaltPhase 00 of 06
00
Free consultationStart with a real conversation.
You getA written summary and a first scope
09:30 · First call with Saffron & Salt, 45 min
00
Phase 00: Free consultation
Start with a real conversation.
A free call about your idea or app. We tell you honestly what it needs, roughly what it costs, and what to decide first, even if the answer is that you don't need us.
You getA written summary and a first scope
01
Phase 01: Plan
Find the right first step.
Who it's for, what to build first, what to leave out, and the money math per user. Every feature starts as a bet, with a way to measure it.
You getA one-page product plan and a fixed-price quote
02
Phase 02: Name and brand
Give the idea a look and a voice.
Names checked for domains and social handles, a first trademark screen, then logo, colours, type and voice. Full clearance comes from a trademark attorney.
You getYour brand kit, design system and launch visuals
03
Phase 03: Company and rules
Make it ready to do business.
Where to register, which rules your markets require, and what you need to sell legally. Licensed professionals give legal and tax advice.
You getYour company set up, with checkout and payments ready
04
Phase 04: Build
Make the thing people came for.
Websites, web apps, internal tools and AI features, plus the automations that connect them. People decide the design, set the rules and approve every release.
You getWorking software, and a build board you can watch live
05
Phase 05: Launch
Ready means every check says GO.
Domain, email, hosting, app-store review, legal pages, search and accessibility checks. We also connect your team's tools and train your people.
You getA launch checklist, every line signed off
06
Phase 06: The long run
Stay in control after launch.
A 12-month guarantee, optional care plans and house rules for your code, so your team or your AI can keep building safely, with nothing locking you to us.
You getEvery key, account and file in your name
US Worldwide · Optional US company kit
We work withfounders everywhere.Need a US company?We'll set it up.
We partner with startups and businesses across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. If you need a US company to take card payments from around the world, open a US business bank account or raise from American investors, we set it up as an optional service, from forming the company to reminders for every yearly filing. If you already have a company, or sell locally, we build straight for your market.
Don't miss the paperwork
$25,000
Potential penalty for a missed Form 5472 filing. We put every filing on your calendar.
Source: IRS Instructions for Form 5472 (Rev. December 2024), 26 U.S. Code § 6038A
We are not a law firm, a tax adviser, or a bank. Official registered agents file US company papers. Licensed professionals give legal and tax advice; banks and payment providers make their own approval decisions.
US companyAn LLC or C Corporation in Wyoming or Delaware. UK and UAE setup partners are joining soon.
Done
02
Registered agentThe official contact your state requires, renewed on time.
Done
03
US business addressA real street address; mail received, scanned and sent on.
Done
04
EINYour company's US tax number, even without a US Social Security number.
Done
05
ITINYour personal US taxpayer number, when you need one.
Done
06
US business bank accountDocuments prepared and introductions to banks that serve founders abroad.
Done
07
PaymentsStripe or another provider set up in your company's name.
Done
08
Yearly calendarState reports, renewals, and federal filings, with timely reminders for each.
Done
Checked with you · No steps skipped ↗
GO Nothing hidden
You see what we see.
No status-report theatre. You get the same view of your project that we have.
01
A live build board. Every feature, in its real state: GO when checks pass, HOLD while it waits, NO-GO when a check fails.
02
Every feature is a bet. Before we build, we write down what should change, how we'll measure it and when to remove it if it doesn't work.
03
Fixed price. Shared savings. One price, agreed before we start. If we talk you out of a feature, half its price comes off your bill.
04
Estimates on the record. We keep each estimate next to what really happened. As projects grow, we will publish the record with client permission.
Example build board · Spice Club appLive view
2 GO2 HOLD1 NO-GOChecking all features
FeatureStateChecksNote
Sign-up and loginGO42 / 42Live on staging
Card paymentsGO37 / 37Live on staging
Admin panelHOLD18 / 21Waiting for email copy
AI assistantNO-GO9 / 14Cost above target
Monthly reportsHOLD0 / 12Waiting for sample reports
Example data · Not a client projectLast check 09:42:18
Feature betExample
Referral rewards
The bet
Customers who invite a friend stay longer.
The measure
60-day retention vs everyone else.
Goal
+10% in 60 days
Day 60 of 60Review / day 60
↗ If retention hasn't moved, we remove it.
Example interface. The build board is something we provide on every project.
12 Follow-up · Revisions · Market changes
Plans change.Markets move.We stay with you.
One named person leads your project and keeps you informed until a year after launch. A backup is there when they're away.
The rhythm / when you hear from usIncluded
Before launch · every weekA written update, and a short call if you want one.
Launch dayWe go live together, then send a launch report.
After launch · weeks 1 to 4A weekly check-in on errors, costs and usage.
Months 3 · 6 · 9 · 12A one-hour review and a written report.
Project chat · #spice-clubExample
Rami · your leadBackup lead · on call
Rami · ArvadyaWeek 6 update is in your inbox: checkout done, gift cards next. Short call Thursday?
You · Saffron & SaltThursday works. Thanks!
Rami · ArvadyaMonth 3 review booked: Tuesday 10:00, one hour. Written report to follow.
A Revisions & changes
You see the price of a change before we start it.
A change that costs extra waits on your build board as HOLD until you approve it by email.
Change note #4 · Gift wrapping at checkout
$640+3 days+$0.02 cost per user
HOLD · waiting for your email✓ Approved by email · 10:14
IncludedTwo rounds of revisions on each design. Fixing our own mistakes never uses a round.
IncludedSwap an unstarted feature for one of the same size.
Priced firstA change note shows price, timeline and effect on cost per user.
UrgentIf your data or money is at risk, we act first and tell you the same day.
Change requests · You approve firstA
B Keeping up with your market
When your market moves, we help your product move with it.
AI prices change. Models retire. Laws and app-store rules change. When a change like this breaks a feature, we help you find the next step.
Review · month 6Example · Spice Club
✓Money math re-run at current AI prices
✓AI model checked for retirement dates
✓App-store rules checked for changes
IncludedEach review re-runs the money math at current prices.
IncludedWe check feature bets. Removing a feature that missed its goal costs nothing extra.
Priced firstAny other change comes on a change note. Doing nothing is always an option.
Care planOptional monthly monitoring, reports, updates, tested backups and small changes.
Prices · Models · RulesChecked at every review
We're not a law firm, a tax adviser or a bank. We don't watch every change in the law. If we spot one that may affect you, we tell you; a licensed professional gives advice and files documents.
Your product should never depend on us. Whenever you choose, we hand it to your own team or another agency, cleanly, with nothing of ours left inside your product.
Yours from the first day. Code, designs, domains and accounts are in your name. You hold full access.
Your team, trained. Live online sessions, recordings and short guides to run your product and tools.
Leave any day. No lock-in and no exit fees. A care plan ends with 30 days' notice.
A proper handover. Documentation, accounts, a session with the new team and 30 days of answers.
We'd rather keep you by being useful than by being hard to leave.
Handover · What you take with youExample
S&S
Saffron & Salt LLCYours from the first day, not just the last
No lock-in
In your name
Code and release pipelineAll the source code in your own GitHub or GitLab, with its full history and the automated workflows that test and ship it.Owner: You
Full access
Cloud and payment accountsHosting, database and payment accounts, such as AWS, Google Cloud, Supabase and Cloudflare, registered to your company. You hold the main logins.Billed to: You, directly
Included
How it all worksAn architecture map, API specifications, database schemas, and step-by-step guides to recover from failures and restore backups.Written for: The next team
30 days
Time with the new teamLive handover sessions with your team or the next agency, recorded walkthroughs, and a shared Slack or Teams channel for their questions, open for 30 days.No penalties
Exit fees$0
No code only we can run · Nothing hidden · Nothing built to keep you
Example · #handover channelDay 4 of 30
New teamWhere is the restore guide?
Rami · Arvadyadocs/runbook.md, step 3. A full restore takes about 4 min.
EU Specialist service · Europe
Europe's rules, wired in from day one.
Marketplaces and platforms that serve Europe carry homework that's easy to miss until after launch. We design it in from day one.
It's specialist work, priced as specialist work, because getting it wrong can mean fines, frozen payouts or a rebuild.
We're not a law firm, a tax adviser or a bank. We build the rules into the product; licensed professionals give legal and tax advice.
01How do you integrate AI into our products and systems?
We build custom AI features, agents and automated workflows into your apps and business tools. We treat AI like any other part of the system: it runs inside security limits, under a spending cap, and behind automated tests. Like everything else we build, it comes with our 12-month guarantee.
02I built an MVP with AI tools (Cursor, Lovable, v0). Can you rescue and harden it?
Yes. AI tools are great at getting a demo working, but they don't remember the whole design, so each new prompt adds another fragile workaround. Then a change to one feature, or to the database, breaks something else.
We audit the whole codebase, untangle it into clear parts, close the security holes (exposed API keys, open database rules, customers who can see each other's data), cap AI spending and add automated tests, so you can ship updates without holding your breath. If rebuilding a part is faster and cheaper than untangling it, we'll tell you up front.
03Who owns the code, content, domains and accounts?
You do, from the first day. Everything is in your name, or your company's once it exists, and you hold full access. Images and videos we make come with their rights in your name, too.
04How much does it cost?
After the free consultation, you get one fixed price for the scope we agree. You'll know the number before we start.
05Do I need a US company?
No. We work with founders and companies around the world. You only need a US company if you want a payment service like Stripe where it isn't available to you, a US bank account, or American investors. If you don't need one, we build and launch for your local company and market.
06Which automation platforms and AI tools do you work with?
We connect workflow tools like n8n, Make and Zapier to AI models from Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI and Google Gemini, and write custom code where they fall short. We automate the everyday work of a business: lead generation, CRM sync, customer support replies, ticketing, marketing campaigns, invoicing and market monitoring.
Every automation belongs 100% to you, comes with full documentation and connects to accounts in your name.
07Do you optimize for search engines and AI agents (SEO and AEO)?
Yes. Everything we build is made to be found by people and by AI. Over 53% of all web traffic in 2025 was automated: AI agents, crawlers and bots (Imperva, 2026 Bad Bot Report).
So we do technical SEO for people who search, and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for the AI that answers: JSON-LD schemas, structured data and machine-readable pages that AI models can read, cite and recommend.
08Can you help us sell in Europe?
Yes. We design marketplaces and platforms with Europe's product rules in mind from day one. Licensed professionals give legal and tax advice; we build the requirements into your product.
09Do you take referral fees from software vendors?
No. We recommend tools based on what fits your needs, and we don't take referral fees or commissions.
10What happens if I leave?
Everything is yours. We give your next team a full handover, and answer their questions for 30 days. Your guarantee stays with the product for the rest of its 12 months when changes pass our unchanged release checks.
11Are you a law firm or a tax adviser?
No. Official registered agents file US company papers. Licensed lawyers and accountants we bring in give legal and tax advice and file any documents.
Your idea has somewhere to go.
Bring the rough version. The half-built version. The one you can't stop thinking about. We'll help you figure out what it needs next.
A free, honest first conversation. About 45 minutes. No pressure, no pitch deck needed.