Two engagement models. One discipline.
We meet you where you are. Co-invest with us through the Partnership model, or run a clean fixed-scope SOW. Same engineering team, same delivery discipline — different commercials.
- Partnership$0 upfront. Revenue-share or equity. We win when you win.
- Traditional SOWFixed scope. Defined fees. Annual support and managed services.
Pick the structure that fits your stage.
Most clients pick the Partnership model. Enterprises with allocated budget pick the SOW. Both come with the same team, the same code, and the same outcomes — what changes is who carries the upfront cost and who shares the upside.
Partnership Model
No upfront development cost. We co-invest in your product through revenue-share or equity. We win when you win.
Founders and growth-stage teams validating a product idea, or scaling an existing one without diluting cash runway.
- Zero upfront development cost
- Revenue-share or equity in lieu of fees
- Joint roadmap, weekly demos, transparent burn
- IP transfers to you on commercial terms
- Long-term partner — not a 3-month vendor
Traditional SOW
Fixed-scope statement of work with defined development charges. Annual support and managed services for the long run.
Enterprises with allocated budget and conventional procurement. CapEx-friendly, vendor-management-friendly.
- Fixed-scope SOW with defined deliverables
- Time-and-materials available for evolving scope
- Annual support and managed-services contracts
- Standard MSA, NDA, DPA — paperwork ready
- Net-30 invoicing in USD
The honest comparison.
No fine print. The facts that matter when you are deciding which way to engage.
- Upfront costPartnership$0Traditional SOWDefined in SOW
- Commercial structurePartnershipRevenue-share or equityTraditional SOWFixed-fee or T&M
- Best forPartnershipFounders & growth-stageTraditional SOWEnterprises with budget
- Code & IP ownershipPartnershipClient owns from day oneTraditional SOWClient owns on payment
- AWS account ownershipPartnershipClient AWS accountTraditional SOWClient AWS account
- Roadmap controlPartnershipJoint, weekly demosTraditional SOWClient-led, sprint cadence
- Engagement lengthPartnershipLong-term, multi-yearTraditional SOW8–24 weeks typical
- Exit / hand-overPartnershipBuy-out terms in MSATraditional SOWStandard hand-over package
- PaperworkPartnershipPartnership MSA + SOW addendumTraditional SOWStandard MSA + SOW
- InvoicingPartnershipOn revenue / equity vestTraditional SOWNet-30 USD
From first call to first sprint, in two weeks.
Discovery call
30-minute conversation. We learn the product, the constraints, and the success metrics.
Fit + model
We propose Partnership or SOW based on stage, scope, and your appetite for upside vs. predictability.
Scoped proposal
Two-page proposal with deliverables, timeline, and commercials. No 60-page slide deck.
Kickoff in 2 weeks
MSA + SOW signed, AWS access provisioned, joint Slack and roadmap, first sprint live.
You hold the keys. Always.
Sharing upside does not mean sharing control. Every Partnership and SOW we sign is explicit about who owns what — code, cloud, data, brand — from the moment you sign.
Request our standard MSA- You own the code
Source committed to your repo, your account, your CI/CD. Daily.
- You own the cloud
Everything runs in your AWS account from day one — never ours.
- You own the data
No data leaves your perimeter. We work inside your VPC, your KMS, your audit trail.
- You own the brand
Trademarks, designs, marks, and product brand are yours. We do not co-brand client products.
- Clean exit terms
Every Partnership MSA includes pre-agreed buy-out math. No drama, no surprises.
- Transparent burn
You see hours, you see costs, you see velocity. Weekly. Same dashboard we use internally.
The questions clients ask before signing.
Why does CostTrail offer a co-invest / partnership model at all?
Because product outcomes are the only honest measure of engineering quality. Tying our compensation to your traction forces us to ship what works, not what fills hours. It also lets early-stage teams with capital constraints ship real products without diluting cash.
How do we agree on revenue-share or equity terms?
Both are negotiated upfront and documented in the Partnership MSA. Revenue-share typically lands between 8–18% of net product revenue for a 24–36 month term. Equity is structured as standard preferred vesting, capped, with a buy-out option you can exercise any time.
What if we want to end the Partnership early?
Every Partnership MSA includes pre-agreed buy-out math — a transparent multiple of work delivered to date. No litigation, no holdup. We have skin in your game; we are not in the business of holding you hostage.
Who owns the source code and AWS account?
You do — from day one. Code is committed to your repo. Infrastructure runs in your AWS account. Domain, DNS, secrets, and observability live with you. We have access through scoped IAM roles you can revoke.
What if our team is non-technical — can we still hold you accountable?
Yes. We embed a fractional CTO or technical advisor of your choosing in every Partnership engagement. They review code, audit security, and represent your technical interests. We pick up the cost; their loyalty is to you.
Do you work alongside our existing engineers or replace them?
Either. Most engagements pair with your team — we ramp them on the patterns we ship and hand over cleanly when they are ready to own it. Some clients want us to run engineering end-to-end; that works too.
Can we start on Partnership and switch to SOW later?
Yes. The buy-out clause makes the switch clean — pay the agreed multiple, the partnership ends, the engagement converts to a standard SOW. Some of our best long-term clients started this way.
What does the paperwork look like?
Partnership: Partnership MSA + SOW addendum + DPA. SOW: Standard MSA + SOW + DPA. We sign your paper if it is reasonable; we have our own templates if it is not. Net-30 USD invoicing for SOW; revenue / equity for Partnership.
Ready to talk about your product?
Tell us where you are. We'll tell you which model fits — Partnership or SOW — and what we'd ship in the first 90 days.
Your technology partner — for cloud, AI, and product engineering.
US-incorporated AWS Partner. We build, deploy, and run your product as co-investors, not vendors.