Start Small. Scale When It Works

How We Work

Start small. Measure. Grow.

Every engagement can begin with a single engineer. Not because that is the minimum viable offering, but because it is often the right starting point.

One developer. A clear scope. A working MVP in the hands of users.

Then we ask the practical questions. Does it work? Do users engage? Is the business model validated?

If yes, we grow the team together. If the answer is not yet, we work with you to understand why before expanding the investment.

This is the model: scope fast, start small, and scale deliberately.

The team structure at any point reflects what the work actually requires, not what looks impressive in a proposal.

Teams that fit the work

Gradion assembles teams the way a tailor fits a suit. Not off the shelf.

XS. One engineer.
MVP, proof of concept, or first production release. This model is common for early-stage startups validating a product idea or for corporate teams testing a new approach before committing budget. In the AI era, a single engineer with the right tooling, including Cursor, Claude, and modern DevOps, can deliver what once required a team of five.

S. Two to four engineers.
A first live product that is iterating on real user feedback. Specialist roles are added when needed: a UI or UX designer for conversion-critical flows, a QA engineer before launch, or a DevOps engineer to harden the infrastructure. The core team remains lean. Specialist support is added when the work requires it.

M. Five to ten engineers.
A production platform with active users and growing feature scope. Delivery cadence becomes more structured. Teams typically include a technical lead embedded in the group, frontend and backend tracks running in parallel, and QA integrated directly into the sprint.

L. Ten to twenty engineers.
A delivery organization operating at scale across multiple product areas or markets. This model supported Roadsurfer, where the booking platform was rebuilt in 20 days and bookings doubled within a year. It also supports Shopware, where 21 engineers work on AI Co-Pilot and platform features, and the analytics platform build for Senior Aerospace Thailand.

XL. Twenty engineers and above.
A long-term embedded engineering organization. The HomeToGo partnership scaled to as many as 150 engineers across four offices. Shopmacher has operated with more than 20 Gradion engineers for nearly eight years. At this scale, Gradion becomes part of the client’s operating structure: the same repositories, the same standups, and the same accountability for outcomes.

Specialist capacity can be added at any stage. This includes UI and UX design, DevOps and cloud infrastructure, QA automation, security, data engineering, and AI or ML expertise. Clients do not pay for a full team when the work only requires a focused set of specialists.

The engagement sequence

Scope.
The process begins with a technical scoping call, not a sales call. One hour to understand the stack, the team, the constraints, and the definition of success. Within two weeks, clients receive a proposal outlining team composition, cost, and timeline. Estimates are realistic. There are no padded timelines and no surprise change orders.

Start.
Engineers integrate directly into the client’s environment. The same Jira board. The same GitHub repository. The same Slack channels. There is no parallel project management layer and no status reporting written for an account manager. Engineers are accountable within the client’s sprint process.

Measure.
Delivery milestones are defined at the outset and reviewed at the end of every sprint. If risks appear, the discussion happens immediately within the team. Measurement focuses on feature velocity, uptime, performance benchmarks, and where appropriate, business outcomes.

Grow.
When the work proves its value, the team expands. When the work requires a different mix of expertise, the composition adjusts. Gradion engineers who demonstrate strong performance can transition into permanent hires. Clients hire people whose work they already know, not candidates selected only from a CV.

Who this works for

This model supports different types of organizations.

A founder with EUR 50,000 and a product idea.

A Mittelstand company modernizing a ten-year-old platform while keeping the business running.

A private equity firm that needs engineering capacity across a portfolio within days.

A corporate innovation team validating a new initiative without triggering a six-month procurement cycle.

A scale-up that has outgrown its founding architecture and needs senior engineers quickly.

The team size changes across these situations. The operating model stays the same.

Start here

Describe the problem and the technology stack.

We will return with a proposed team structure within one week.