// The Two-Gear Loop
One process. Two gears. Zero black box.
Every Altoby engagement runs on the Two-Gear Loop — the same process whether we're rescuing a failed build, replacing outgrown tools, or testing a brand-new idea. It exists for one reason: so you always know what's happening, what's next, and what it costs.
First, we agree which question we're answering.
Discovery gear — "should this exist?"
For new ideas and untested assumptions. We build the smallest version that can prove the point, put it in front of real users in days, and give you an honest kill-or-continue answer. We'd rather kill your idea in week two for $1,000 than build the wrong thing for a year.
Delivery gear — "does it meet the contract?"
For systems your business will depend on. Full written spec approved before code, fixed price, automated tests on everything, documentation, handover.
The shift between them is a rule, not a mood: the moment something touches your money, your users, or data you can't afford to lose, it is promoted to delivery gear. No prototype ever silently becomes production.
Then every feature runs the same five beats.
01 — Frame
Three sentences you approve: what changes, for whom, and how we'll both know it worked.
02 — Spec
The behaviour written as concrete examples ("given this input, exactly this happens"). You read it. You approve it. It becomes the contract.
03 — Prove
Before any code exists, your examples become automated tests. The spec isn't a document that goes stale; it's the thing the software must pass.
04 — Build
AI does the heavy lifting inside the boundaries of your approved spec; the engineer reviews every change.
05 — Land
Live in production the same day the tests go green. You see it working on Friday, every Friday.
Why this matters to you, not just to us.
Spec before code
Fixed prices are possible.
Live from week one
No big-bang launch risk.
Friday demos
You never wonder what you're paying for.
Tests from your acceptance criteria
New features can't quietly break the ones you already paid for.
Everything documented in your repository
Any future engineer can take over — you are never hostage to me.
Built with AI. Answered for by a human.
Altoby builds with AI — Claude Code, specifically — and doesn't hide it. It's how one senior engineer ships at the pace of a team, and it's why fixed prices and Friday demos are possible at all. Open your repository and you'll see it in the commit history. No surprise, no fine print.
What AI never does here: decide what to build, approve a spec, or merge code nobody read. Every feature starts from a specification you approved, every change is reviewed by the engineer who answers to you, and nothing ships until the automated tests built from your own acceptance criteria pass. You pay for judgment and accountability. The machine supplies speed — and the speed is already in the price.