FOUNDER-LED PRODUCT ENGINEERING STUDIO · ADDIS ABABAFOUNDER-LED · ADDIS ABABA · UTC+3
Custom web and mobile engineering for B2B startups, SaaS teams and agencies. Scoped before you commit, built in milestones you review, with handover terms agreed up front.Custom web and mobile engineering. Scoped before you commit, built in milestones you review.
You work directly with Nate Merkl, who leads the technical decisions and stays accountable from scope to handover.
A short description is enough to begin. No formal specification needed.
Who we help
Primary
Founders and product leads with a funded first release to deliver.
Also for
Established businesses with a process that off-the-shelf software does not fit.
Also for
Owners extending or modernising code that already runs the business.
Also for
Agencies that need a tested component delivered with confidentiality terms agreed in writing.
When off-the-shelf stops short
Generic software makes the business adapt to the tool. We design around how your team actually works.
Sales, stock, payments and reporting need to agree. We connect systems instead of asking people to re-enter them.
Extending or restructuring what you already run can be safer than replacing it. We check before we recommend a rebuild.
What we build
Each one is scoped before we commit. Where a project does not fit these, we say so.
Web, mobile and business applications built around a specific process: internal systems, customer experiences and operational tools.
Product developmentFrom a first production release to the next iteration. Architecture, development, releases and handover for SaaS and digital products.
How we workExtending or restructuring an existing application, and connecting payments, business data and workflows. Scoped case by case, starting with a diagnostic.
How we workScoped, tested engineering capacity for agencies and product teams. Responsibilities, review and NDA agreed in writing.
For agenciesEach piece states who owns the product and exactly what M3rkl contributed. Fewer works, shown properly.
How working with us feels
These describe how we work. They are not guarantees of outcome or timeline.
01
Nate scopes, builds and hands over. There is no account-manager layer between you and the code.
02
A paid scoping sprint gives you a written plan, an estimate and the risks before a build starts.
03
Work is organised in milestones you review.
04
Technical choices and the reasons for them are recorded in project notes you keep.
05
Payment, acceptance, IP transfer and warranty are written into the proposal.
06
We say when scope, timing or capacity is a problem.
Every engagement starts with a written proposal: what is included, what is not, timing, payment and next steps.
Turn your next objective into priorities, an architecture direction, risks and an implementation estimate before you commit to a build.
Written plan and estimate · timing agreed up front
One end-to-end web or mobile release, built against milestones you review, with handover defined in the proposal.
Milestone-reviewed release · terms set in the proposal
A bounded engineering package for your client work, with confidentiality, responsibilities and acceptance criteria agreed in writing first.
Scoped package · terms agreed in writing
Founder-led, from scope to handover. Nate Merkl is directly involved in the technical decisions, the build and the handover of every engagement.
M3rkl is a founder-led studio in Addis Ababa, UTC+3, with a strong working overlap with European hours. Meeting times for US clients are agreed for each engagement.
About Nate & M3rkl →Insights
Writing for founders and operators deciding how to build, buy or extend software. Published only when the piece is finished.
How to choose the right software strategy for your business.
Tell us where the product is now and the milestone you need. A short description is enough; no formal specification required.A short description is enough. No formal specification needed.
Discuss your project hello@m3rkl.com