How We Work — VD Hosts
Discovery · Design · Build · Launch · Evolve

How we work with you from idea to reliable product.

We follow a clear, transparent process that balances structure with flexibility — so you always know what’s happening, what’s blocked and what’s next.

In the first conversation, we’ll map your goals, constraints and timelines — and suggest a realistic way to work together.

Engagement style High-touch, low-drama collaboration
What you see Roadmaps, milestones & honest status
How we deliver Short feedback loops, long-term thinking
Outcome-focused, not ticket-focused One partner across build, run & grow Designed for long-term partnerships
Our principles

How we think about work and partnerships.

These principles shape every engagement — whether we’re building a small MVP or running multiple squads across your organisation.

Outcome over output

We care about business and product outcomes — adoption, reliability, user satisfaction — not just “we closed X tickets this sprint”.

Measure what matters
Transparency over comfort

If something is risky, unclear or unrealistic, we’ll say it — respectfully and early. You’ll always know the real status, not a polished slide.

Radical candour (without drama)
Long-term over quick wins

We build systems and relationships that can last years — with maintainable code, documentation and knowledge sharing baked in.

We optimise for continuity
Co-ownership over hand-offs

We don’t throw work over the fence. We collaborate with your team on decisions, support launches and stay around to iterate.

One joint team
Calm, predictable delivery

Clear scope, explicit trade-offs and realistic plans reduce last-minute panic and make launches boring in the best way.

Low-drama engineering
Context before code

Before building, we make sure we understand users, constraints and success metrics. That context saves time and rework later.

Think → then build
Ways to work together

Engagement models that match where you are.

You can start small, validate the relationship, then extend into a long-term partnership once we’ve earned your trust.

End-to-end process

From first call to ongoing partnership.

The details change per client, but the backbone stays similar: understand, design, build, launch, then improve with you.

01 · Discovery & fit
Listen first, then propose.

We explore your product, users, current stack, internal team and constraints. Then we outline options: project scope, squad shapes, timelines and trade-offs.

Outcome: shared understanding of goals, risks and success metrics.

02 · Solution design & planning
Agree on architecture, scope and roadmap.

We refine requirements, draft architecture and user flows, and prioritise a realistic first release. We choose tools, ceremonies and reporting cadence together.

Outcome: agreed plan, responsibilities and timeline.

03 · Build & iterate
Deliver in short, visible cycles.

Work runs in sprints or Kanban, with regular demos and check-ins. We keep trade-offs explicit so you can make informed decisions when priorities change.

Outcome: working software in your hands early, not just in month 6.

04 · Launch & transition
Support go-live and adoption.

We help plan releases, rollout strategies and monitoring. Documentation, runbooks and knowledge transfer make sure your team isn’t lost once something ships.

Outcome: stable launch, fewer surprises in production.

05 · Evolve & grow
Refine, extend and scale together.

We analyse usage, feedback and performance, then help you decide what to improve next — or how to extend squads, platforms and growth efforts.

Outcome: long-term partner who grows with your roadmap.

Collaboration & communication

We plug into your ways of working, not the other way around.

Our aim is to feel like a natural extension of your team — using the tools, rituals and communication style that work best for you.

Rituals & communication rhythm

We agree on a lightweight operating system that fits both sides — enough structure to stay aligned, without turning every week into a meeting marathon.

  • Standups, planning and retros that match your cadence.
  • Weekly or bi-weekly stakeholder check-ins for leadership.
  • Asynchronous updates so no one chases status.
Standups in Slack or Teams Sprint reviews & demos Shared backlogs (Jira, Linear, etc.)
Tools & visibility

We’re tool-agnostic. We’ll happily work in your existing stack or recommend a simple setup if you’re building your first product processes.

  • Work management in your preferred tool (Jira, Trello, Asana, Linear…).
  • Code hosted in your repos (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket…).
  • Shared dashboards for deployment and monitoring.
Slack / MS Teams / Email GitHub / GitLab / Bitbucket Jira / Linear / ClickUp Status dashboards
Quality & reliability

How we keep quality, security and stability under control.

We treat quality and security as part of delivery — not as optional nice-to-haves to “add later if there’s time”.

Engineering quality
  • Code reviews as a habit, not an exception.
  • Agreed coding standards and branching strategies.
  • Automated checks (linting, basic tests) in CI pipelines.
Testing & validation
  • Mix of unit tests, integration tests and manual QA as needed.
  • Test environments that mirror production as closely as possible.
  • Regression checks before key releases.
Security & operations
  • Secure-by-default practices in code and infrastructure.
  • Access control, secrets management and basic hardening.
  • Monitoring and alerting with clear ownership for incidents.
FAQ

Questions teams often ask about how we work.

If something you care about isn’t covered here, we’re happy to talk it through directly.

How do we start small without committing to a huge budget?

We usually suggest a focused pilot — a clearly defined feature, module or audit — with a fixed budget and timeline. You see how we think, communicate and deliver, then decide whether to expand into a larger engagement or dedicated squad.

Can we keep some work in-house and give some to VD Hosts?

Absolutely. Many clients keep strategic or core areas in-house and ask us to own specific modules, platforms or streams. We’ll work with you to define interfaces, responsibilities and communication so it feels like one combined team.

What if our priorities change mid-project?

Priorities change — that’s normal. Instead of pretending they don’t, we re-plan with you: what gets moved, what gets cut, and how timelines or budgets are affected. You always see the trade-offs before we act on them.

Do we get to interview and approve the engineers?

For Dedicated Tech Squads and longer engagements, yes. We pre-vet engineers and leads, then you can review profiles and interview key people to ensure they’re the right fit for your culture and stack.

Want to see how this would work for your team?

Share your roadmap, existing team and current bottlenecks. We’ll map our process to your reality and suggest a concrete next step — a pilot, a squad, or a hybrid model.

No hard sell. Just an honest conversation about what’s realistic and what we’d need from each other to make it work.