Product build studio · Cape Town · Working UK & EU hours
Build what matters. Ship it.
A proof of concept in weeks. An MVP in market in a couple of months. One senior product person accountable from idea to launch, with a trusted engineering team behind the code.
Products proven and shipped across fintech, healthtech and SaaS
UK Fintech
Cape Town HealthTech
JHB Logistics
B2B SaaS
UK Fintech
Cape Town HealthTech
JHB Logistics
B2B SaaS
The point
Most products don't fail in the code. They fail in the months spent building the wrong thing.
SILC gets you past that: prove the risky part in weeks, build the smallest version that earns, and ship it, with one senior product person accountable from idea to launch, and a trusted engineering team behind the code.
How engagements work
Every engagement, from a one-week audit to a six-month fractional role, follows the same spine.
01
Weeks, not quarters
Prove
I name the one assumption your product lives or dies on and test it with something real, before you spend a build budget finding out the hard way.
02
Fixed scope, fixed price
Build
Ruthless scope, then it ships. I run product and delivery; a trusted engineering team writes the code; you get one accountable person, not a handoff.
03
Live, and instrumented
Ship
You launch a real product that holds up, with the instrumentation to learn from it and the systems to keep shipping after.
What I do
Three fixed-scope builds. Scroll the stack. Not sure which? Start with the strategy sprint below.
The three builds
Proof of Concept
01
A short, fixed build that turns your riskiest assumption into a working proof: a functional prototype or technical spike, tested with real users, and a straight go / pivot / stop call.
A working proof: functional prototype or technical spike
Tested with real target users, with the findings written up
Your riskiest assumption, answered with evidence not opinion
A go / pivot / stop call, with the MVP outline if it's go
MVP Build
02
An end-to-end build of the smallest product that can reach real users and revenue: scoped ruthlessly, built by a senior product lead and a trusted engineering team, and launched.
A shipped, revenue- or learning-ready product, live
Ruthless scope with an explicit 'not now' list you approve
Senior product, design and engineering under one lead
Launch, plus the analytics to know if it's working
Product Sprints
03
Ongoing product and delivery for an existing product: a prioritised roadmap, shipped features every cycle, and a senior product lead running it, without a full-time exec hire.
The fast, opinionated strategy that leads into a build, not a 60-page deck. Not sure which build you need? This is the cheapest way in: a plan, and a decision on what to build first.
“Tristan's superpower is making 'no' feel like progress. We shipped in six weeks what we'd budgeted five months for.”
C&Co-founder & CEOUK fintech scale-up
“We were three signatures away from committing eight months to the wrong build. Tristan's proof cost a fraction of that and pointed us straight at what patients actually wanted.”
FFounderSouth African healthtech
“The discovery memo told us not to build the thing we'd hired him to scope. Best money we've spent. We built the adjacent thing and it's now 30% of revenue.”
FFounderB2B SaaS, Cape Town
For UK & EU founders
London seniority, on your working day
Roughly half the startups I work with are outside South Africa. The reason is boring and it holds up: senior product people here cost a fraction of what they do in London or Berlin, and Cape Town sits one hour ahead of the UK. You get the seniority and the overlap, without the London invoice.
Quotes come in your currency. Contracts and invoicing work the way you are used to.
SAST = UK + 1
Two hours of Europe, one of the UK.A full working day of overlap, not a handover window. Questions get answered the same afternoon they are asked.
~1/3
of London agency rates.Same seniority, a different cost base. The saving is geography, not juniors on your project.
One person
accountable, not an account manager.You deal with the product lead doing the work. No timezone-shifted ticket queue between you and a decision.
Both, and that's the point. I lead product (strategy, scope, delivery) and build with a small, trusted engineering network. You get one accountable senior product person from idea to shipped product, not a strategy deck thrown over the wall to a separate dev shop.
Who will I actually be working with?+
Me, Tristan Klement, as your product lead, from first call to launch. The code is built by a small engineering network I've worked with and trust. No juniors learning on your budget, no bait-and-switch to a team you never met.
What does a build cost?+
Proof of Concept and MVP Build are fixed project prices, quoted after a scoping call; you'll have a number within 48 hours, no drawn-out proposals. Product Sprints is a monthly rate based on cycle cadence. Book an intro call and I'll size it honestly.
How are you different from a dev agency?+
An agency optimises for build hours; I'm a product person who builds. The job is shipping the right thing that earns, which sometimes means building less, or proving an idea before committing to it. Senior product judgement wired straight into delivery, not billed by the sprint.
Do you work with international clients or only South Africa?+
Both. SILC is based in South Africa (which makes the rates attractive for UK/EU/US clients), and every build runs remote-first with overlap hours agreed upfront. Local clients can add in-person sessions in Cape Town or Johannesburg.
Free 30-minute intro
Ready to build the right thing?
A free 30-minute intro call: bring your product problem, leave with a straight opinion and a clear next step, whether or not that step involves me.