We sell both engagement models, which is precisely why we can be honest about them: each one fails in a specific, predictable way when applied to the wrong problem.
Fixed scope: when the target holds still
Fixed scope works when the problem is genuinely known — a rebuild of an existing system, a well-specified integration, an MVP whose cut lines are agreed. You get price certainty, a real deadline, and our strongest incentive to scope honestly, because overruns are our problem.
Its failure mode is discovery: if what you actually need changes mid-build, every change becomes a negotiation. That is not a flaw in the client or the vendor; it is the model doing what it says on the tin.
Embedded squad: when the target moves
An embedded squad — our engineers inside your team, your priorities, your standups — fits products in active discovery, where this month’s roadmap legitimately should not survive next month’s user interviews. You buy capacity and senior judgement rather than a deliverable.
Its failure mode is drift: without a strong internal product owner, an embedded team happily builds the wrong thing at high velocity. We now decline embedded engagements where nobody on the client side owns the roadmap.
The honest table
Known problem, stable scope, hard deadline: fixed scope. Evolving product, strong internal PM, ongoing need: embedded. Unknown problem and no internal owner: neither — start with a two-week discovery engagement and buy certainty before buying a build.