A lot of software studios describe themselves as "product-first" while their revenue is entirely services-driven. We wanted to avoid that gap, so from the start, Kraftey has shipped and maintained our own products — CropCircle and TheTradeUnion — alongside client work.
Why this order matters
Running our own products means we carry the consequences of our own decisions: the technical debt, the support tickets, the cost of a slow release cycle. That's a different kind of accountability than delivering a client project and moving on.
It also means the advice we give clients about architecture, scope, or timelines is grounded in what we've actually had to live with, not just what sounds right in a proposal.
What it means for partners
- We push back on scope that we think will hurt a product long-term, even if it's billable.
- We default to boring, maintainable technology over impressive-sounding stacks.
- We think in terms of what a team will need to operate after we ship, not just what demos well at launch.
Staying product-first is slower in the short term. It's also the reason our client work holds up past the first release.