Zero account managers between you and the founders doing the work.
Most agencies sell a project, staff it, and move on at launch. A retained team is the opposite shape: no project to end, and the founders you met are the ones doing the work.
| Dimension | Retained team | Per-project agency |
|---|---|---|
| Who you talk to | A founder who writes the code or runs the growth work | An account manager who relays to the team |
| Who does the work | The same two founders you met | A delivery team, sometimes subcontracted |
| Engagement shape | Ongoing: one active request, unlimited requests in the queue | A scoped project with a start and an end |
| After launch | The next request in the queue goes active | Handoff, then a new proposal for the next change |
| Scope changes | Add it to the queue | Change orders; scope changes are revenue |
| Visibility | Staging URL from day one, demos every Friday | Status decks and milestone reviews |
| Capacity | Capped: one active request, four or fewer engagements per co-founder | Can staff twenty people on your account |
| Code ownership | Your repo, yours from the first commit | Often transferred at handover, so check when the clause says it moves |
§01
The layer that stalls projects.
The default agency layout is founder, then project manager, then developers. That middle wire is where projects go quiet. On SIT Manager, the client had run through two agencies in exactly that layout; they stalled for nine and six months.
Our change wasn't technical. It was a direct line, and the first deploy landed inside fourteen days. A retained team has no middle wire to remove: requests go to the founders, and the founders ship them.
§02
Launch isn't the end of the work.
Per-project agencies are built to finish. Ship on Friday, invoice on Monday, silence on Tuesday. Then the first real user asks for a change, and you're negotiating a new proposal for something that should take a week.
On retainer, the post-launch request is just the next item in the queue. Medicileaf is still an active retainer across brand, commerce, and marketing, long after the storefront shipped.
The other side
When an agency wins.
When you need twenty people, not two. A large rollout with parallel workstreams, a steering committee, and specialised roles is agency terrain. We cap at four or fewer active engagements per co-founder and one active request at a time. If that pace can't carry your plan, hire the agency. Genuinely.
When procurement demands it. Regulated industries and enterprise buyers sometimes require a formal vendor relationship and a bench that survives any one person leaving. That's a real requirement, and agencies are built to meet it.
And when the project genuinely ends. A campaign site with a launch date and no roadmap behind it doesn't need a retained queue.
Price
Send us the next three things you'd ask an agency to build and we'll reply with pricing within 24 hours. Ask for pricing
Questions founders ask
- What's the difference between a retained team and an agency?
- An agency sells a project, staffed by a delivery team and coordinated through account managers. A retained team is ongoing: one queue, one active request at a time, and the founders you met doing the work.
- Do you have account managers?
- No. Engineering questions go to Naman Barkiya, who writes the code; growth and positioning questions go to Abhiraj Sakargaye. That's structural, not a promise.
- What happens after launch with a retained team?
- Nothing ends. The next request in your queue goes active, ships to staging, and gets demoed on Friday.
- When should I hire an agency instead?
- When you need a large team working in parallel, a formal vendor for procurement, or a fixed project that genuinely ends at launch. We'll tell you if that's your situation.
Keep reading
Talk to the two people who'd do the work.
A 30-minute call with Naman or Abhiraj. Or email two paragraphs on what you're building — we reply with a pricing estimate within 24 hours.
Send two or three times that work, with your timezone. A founder confirms within 24 hours.
Request a call by email