Web, mobile and AI products for people who need the thing to actually work. We build for clients, and we build for ourselves. Same standard either way.
Almost every rescue job we take on has perfectly reasonable code. What broke it was six months of small, sensible decisions nobody wrote down, made by people who had moved on by the time it mattered.
So we argue about scope out loud and early, while changing our minds is still cheap. It is less comfortable than a signed spec. It is also the reason things ship.
A screen, a flow, a name, an entire feature nobody has built yet. Week one is full of these.
Your data model, your platform, and anything you have already promised the board.
Most of what you pay us for is the week we spend on the expensive list.
You bring the problem. We scope it, build it, and stay on after launch. One team from the first call to the last deploy, which means there is nobody to point at when something breaks.
See what we doWe ask the awkward questions early, while they are still cheap to answer. The real scope is usually smaller than the brief.
You see it and click through it before we write the real code. Cheaper to change a screen than a database.
Short sprints and working software every week, so nothing is a surprise in the last one.
Monitoring, backups and handover done before you go live. Then we stay, because launch is the midpoint.
The other half of the studio. We put our own money into ideas nobody briefed us on, ship them, and live with whatever comes back. It is the half that keeps the other one honest.
Nobody signs these off. Some earn their keep. Some teach us something expensive, which turns out to be its own kind of useful.
↗There is no client to hand the mistakes to. When one of ours breaks at midnight, it is our night.
↗We scope like founders rather than contractors. That is why we will talk you out of a feature we could happily have billed you for.
↗Property, finance, energy, photography, logistics. The thread is not the sector. It is that somebody needed the thing to actually work.
“Ruptide always gave creative and elegant solutions to often very challenging concepts. The products were applied in very difficult environments but they were wonderfully pragmatic.”
“Professional, approachable, engaging and capable, a great combination for bringing ideas together and giving them life!”
“Rudo’s perfectionism, quality, ideas and creativity is really something that can put your business many steps ahead.”
“Outstanding job and exceeded all expectations. Looking forward to starting the next one ASAP.”
The team works remotely and meets in person in Cape Town. We keep regular hours, Monday to Friday on South African time, so you always know when you can reach someone.
Ten years on we’re still a small team by choice. One set of eyes on every product, and nothing shipped that we wouldn’t put our own name on.
Small studio, long memory. The odds are decent we have already broken the thing you are about to build, which tends to save everyone time.