Startup MVPs
Nearshore Staff Augmentation for Startup MVPs
Build your MVP with senior, AI-capable engineers from Latin America who work your hours, without hiring a full-time team first. First interviews in about 3 days, kickoff in about two weeks, and the first two weeks are risk-free.
- ~3 daysto first interviews
- ~2 weeksto kickoff
- 2 weeksrisk-free trial
- USD 35–55per hour, senior engineers
01Fit
Who is it for?
Founders and startups that need to build an MVP without hiring a full-time team first. You get senior engineers who join your team, work your hours and start shipping within two weeks, and you can grow or shrink the team month to month.
A good fit if
- You need to ship an MVP and can't wait months to hire.
- You're a US or Canadian company and want engineers who work your hours.
- You don't want to open an entity, run foreign payroll or sign long contracts before the product is validated.
- You need a whole product built, not just individual hires: we also take MVPs and full builds.
Not the right fit if
- You need junior or mid-level roles: we place senior engineers only.
- Your team works European or Asian hours: our time zones overlap a US workday.
02Speed
How fast can you have an MVP team?
About two weeks from the first call to a team that is shipping.
- Day one We map the roles your MVP needs and what success looks like.
- About 3 days Validated profiles reach you and interviews begin.
- Week two Onboarding and kickoff: the engineers join your team and start shipping.
- Ongoing Client and talent care, with direct access to the company's leadership.
03Team
What does an MVP team look like?
You choose the roles your MVP needs, and the team grows with the product. Every engineer we place is senior.
- Frontend
- React, Vue, Angular, TypeScript
- Backend
- Node, .NET, Python, Java
- Mobile
- React Native, iOS, Android
- AI and data
- LLM integrations, RAG, agentic workflows, data pipelines
- QA
- Automation, manual and AI-augmented testing
- Cloud and DevOps
- AWS, Azure, CI/CD
- Design
- UI/UX and product design
- Product
- Product owners and business analysts
From MVP to product
TeamGenius
Player evaluation software for tryouts, camps and player feedback. We scaled it from MVP to a full-fledged product.
Integrating an acquisition
Revolut
We helped Revolut integrate the point-of-sale company it had just acquired into its platform, with front-end, back-end and iOS developers: a team of up to five.
04AI
AI-enabled development, by AI-capable engineers
We treat AI fluency as part of seniority, not as a separate department.
AI skills, rated
Every profile in our talent marketplace is rated on AI fluency, so you know each engineer's AI skills.
AI-enabled development
We screen for engineers who use AI assistants well, and who review what comes back.
AI-capable MVPs
LLM integrations and data pipelines are part of normal product work, so your MVP can ship with AI features.
In the open
We ran a public workshop on the OpenAI API, and the code is on our GitHub.
AI skills on our engineers' profiles
- Claude Code
- GitHub Copilot
- ChatGPT
- Gemini
- OpenAI API
- RAG
- LangChain
- LangGraph
- Agentic workflows
- Model Context Protocol
- LLM evaluation
- AI-augmented testing
05Pricing
How much does it cost compared with hiring locally?
Where a role lands in that band depends on seniority, how scarce the stack is and the length of the engagement.
- Billed hourly against time actually worked
- Invoiced monthly
- No setup fee and no recruitment fee
- No minimum headcount
- No commitment beyond the current month
| Hiring full-time locally | 1950Labs nearshore team | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to a working team | Often months of sourcing, interviews and notice periods | About two weeks to kickoff |
| What you pay | Salary plus benefits, payroll taxes and recruiting costs | USD 35–55 per hour, only for time actually worked |
| Fees | Recruiter fees or job-board costs | No setup fee and no recruitment fee |
| Commitment | A full-time employment contract | Nothing beyond the current month, no minimum headcount |
| If it doesn't work out | Letting someone go and starting a new search | The first two weeks are risk-free |
| Paperwork | Contracts, payroll and benefits are on you | Contracts, compliance and payroll are on 1950Labs: you sign one vendor agreement |
06Talent
Time zone, communication and talent
Your hours
Our engineers are in Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico and the rest of Latin America, so their workday overlaps yours.
Screened for communication
Senior only, screened on engineering depth, English, communication and culture fit. Placed engineers pass a background check, and you get an attestation letter.
A deep talent pool
Our network holds 25,000+ developers across Latin America, and 1,400+ of them passed our vetting into a private talent marketplace.
A direct line to leadership
You talk to the company's leadership directly, not to an account queue.
07FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Day one we map the roles and what success looks like. Within about 3 days you get validated profiles and start interviewing, and in week two the engineers are onboarded and kick off with your team.
Senior engineers run USD 35–55 per hour. Where a role lands in that band depends on seniority, how scarce the stack is and the length of the engagement. We bill hourly against time actually worked and invoice monthly, with no setup fee, no recruitment fee and no minimum headcount.
Yes. We treat AI fluency as part of seniority: every profile in our talent marketplace is rated on it, and we screen for engineers who use AI assistants well and review what comes back. LLM integrations and data pipelines are part of normal product work, so your MVP can ship with AI features.
The first two weeks are risk-free: if you're not satisfied, you don't pay for them.
You do. All the code and intellectual property belong to you from day one.
Yes. There is no minimum headcount and no commitment beyond the current month, so you can add or remove people as the product changes. Engagements run from one-month projects to long-term teams: we took TeamGenius from MVP to a full-fledged product.
No. Contracts, compliance and payroll sit with 1950Labs, so you sign one vendor agreement instead of opening an entity abroad.
