Contract engineering
You need it built.
Not a hiring process.
You need software built — a new system, a troubled codebase taken over, or senior capacity alongside your team. That is the other half of this practice, and it does not need three months of interviews to start. IN2Labs is a one-person senior practice in the US that has shipped production software from health platforms like Preventa Wellness to consumer apps, research code, and scientific tooling.
What I build
What a contract engagement covers
SaaS Platforms
Web apps with auth, payments, dashboards, and APIs. Most MVPs ship in 8-12 weeks.
Mobile Apps
iOS and Android from a single Flutter codebase. Native performance, half the cost.
AI Products
LLM integrations, chatbots, computer vision, and intelligent automation that works in production.
Web Applications
React, Next.js, and modern frameworks. Responsive, fast, and built to scale.
Cloud & DevOps
GCP, AWS, serverless, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure that doesn't break at 3 AM.
Research & Scientific Software
Analysis pipelines, lab tooling, and grant-funded code that has to be reproducible, documented, and survive a handoff.
Compare
How this compares to other options
| IN2Labs | Toptal / Upwork | Agency | Full-Time Hire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time to Start | Days | 1-2 weeks | 2-4 weeks | 2-6 months |
| Developer Level | Senior only | Varies widely | Mixed team | Depends on hire |
| Communication | Direct, US timezone | Direct, any timezone | Account manager | Direct |
| Architecture | Included | You manage | Extra cost | If they're senior |
| Flexibility | Cash, equity, or both | Hourly only | Fixed contracts | Salary + equity |
| Overhead | None to fund | Platform fees | Retainers | Benefits, HR, office |
Why IN2Labs
Not a marketplace. Not an agency.
A one-person senior practice, based in the US, building your product directly. No account managers, no junior devs, no offshore hand-offs, no timezone gaps — the engineer you meet is the engineer who ships.
01
Senior, or nothing
One engineer, 15+ years of experience, across government systems and regulated software — including R&D at MIT and NSF SBIR-funded work as principal investigator. There are no juniors billed at senior rates, because there are no juniors.
02
No coordination tax
One person scoping, deciding, and building means no hand-off meetings, no spec written for someone else to misread, and no week lost to alignment. Focused builds typically run 8–12 weeks.
03
No overhead to fund
No agency layers, no sales team, no middle management. You pay for engineering, not for the org chart around it.
04
You own everything
100% IP ownership. Full source code access from day one. No lock-in, no proprietary frameworks, no hostage situations.
FAQ
Common questions
How fast can you start? +
Most projects kick off within a few days of the first call. If your institution needs a PO, W-9, or COI, say so on the first call and I will get the paperwork moving in parallel. I scope the work, we agree on a price, and I start building.
How much does it cost? +
Fixed-scope for defined projects, retainer for ongoing leadership. Concretely: a fixed-price Technology Health Check is $2,500 for a two-week review with written findings; fractional CTO retainers run $5,000–$12,000/month depending on days per week; focused builds typically run $25,000–$80,000. Hourly and subcontract arrangements are available where an institution needs them. Every project gets an honest quote on the first call, and a written SOW before anything is signed. I also accept equity arrangements for the right projects.
What if the scope is still vague? +
Normal. Plenty of good projects start as a napkin sketch or a problem nobody has written down yet. The discovery step exists to turn that into a scoped, buildable piece of work with clear priorities before anyone commits budget.
Do I need to project-manage this? +
No. I'm self-directed. You tell me what you want to build, I figure out how to build it. Weekly demos keep you in the loop without becoming a project manager.
Request a triage
Pick a time that works.
30 minutes, free. Tell me what you are building or what is broken — I'll tell you what it takes, what it costs, and how fast it can ship. I confirm every request within 24 hours.