Fornax OS

Fornax Execution Consulting
GCC

Software we build

We build these for other people too.

Five systems is what we built for ourselves. The same people build custom software and AI agents for other businesses, to the same standard, on the same principle: it should run something, not just record it.

  • Starts withPaid scoping
  • You ownThe specification
  • Built inPriced phases
  • MarketGCC

We turn down work we can't maintain. That isn't modesty, it's how the other five stay good.

01 Last time

You have probably paid for software once already.

And if it went wrong, it went wrong in one of these four ways. None of them are about code quality.

  1. Built the brief Not the problem You wrote a spec, they built it exactly, and it turned out the spec was the guess
  2. Handed over and left Then it rotted Working on the day it shipped, and unmaintained by the time it mattered
  3. Priced the whole thing Up front So every discovery became a change request and every change request became a fight
  4. Recorded instead of ran A nicer database Someone still has to open it, read it, and remember what to do next

The last one is the expensive one, and almost nobody names it before signing. You can spend a year building something that files your work beautifully and takes none of it off anyone.

02 Method

Four steps, and the first one is paid.

Scoping is where the money is saved or wasted, so it is real work and it is charged for. You keep what it produces either way.

  1. 01

    Scope, and you own the result.

    A paid phase that ends in a specification: what gets built, what it must do, what it will cost, and what has to be true inside your business for it to work. That document is yours whether or not you build it with us, and you can take it to anyone.

    The fear this answersWhat if they build exactly what I asked for and it's the wrong thing?

    Fixed feeYou keep the specNo obligation to continue

  2. 02

    Build in phases, priced per phase.

    Each phase is quoted and approved on its own, and you can stop between any two of them. Nothing about the arrangement punishes either of us for learning something halfway through, which is the thing that turns a fixed price into an argument.

    The fear this answersWhat if I am locked into a number that stops making sense in month three?

    Phase by phaseStop between any twoScope changes are expected

  3. 03

    You own your instance and your data.

    Your configured system, your data, and a licence that doesn't expire. If the relationship ends, the thing running your business keeps running your business. Nothing here is designed so that leaving costs you the operation.

    The fear this answersWhat happens to my business if we fall out?

    Your instanceYour dataPerpetual licence

  4. 04

    We host it and stay on the hook.

    We run and maintain it, which means when it breaks it is our problem and not a support ticket you have to chase. It also means we find out about the breakage before you do, which is the only version of maintenance worth paying for.

    The fear this answersWill anyone still care about this in eighteen months?

    HostedMonitoredOur problem when it breaks

03 Evidence

We are our own reference client.

Before any of this was offered to anyone else, we built five systems for our own operation and one of them now sells to strangers. That is a more useful reference than a logo wall, because you can go and read exactly how each one is built and judge the standard yourself.

REPS is live and taking money. RAVEN runs client outbound today. CASTALD models a property business down to the individual chiller. JUDGE and WATCHTOWER are in design and this site says so plainly rather than dressing them up.

That last part is the reference. A shop that will tell you what isn't finished on its own products will tell you what isn't finished on yours.

Read how the five are built

04 Refuse

Work we say no to.

  • We don't take work we can't maintain. If we can't commit to running it in two years, building it now is a disservice.
  • We don't build software whose only job is to display. If a person still has to open it and decide what happens next, we have not removed any work.
  • We don't skip the scoping phase because a deadline is tight. That is precisely when a wrong specification is most expensive.
  • We don't take a project where nobody on your side is accountable for it. Software cannot supply an owner that the business does not have.
  • We don't quote a whole build up front to win the work and then charge for the discovery. Priced phases exist so neither of us has to pretend.
  • We don't rescue a codebase we did not write unless we have read it first. Anyone who agrees to that before looking is guessing with your money.

If none of those rule you out, the next step is a conversation about what you're actually trying to run.

05 Partner

Partner builds

Three a year. We select for distribution, not budget.

Most work is a straightforward build and this is not that. A small number of engagements each year are structured differently: a reduced build fee, a share of what the software earns, and we stay on the hook for running it.

We take three because that is the number we can carry properly while five of our own systems are in build. It's a statement about our capacity, not about how in demand we are.

What we select for

  • You already reach the market this software would serve, and we couldn't buy that reach.
  • There is a real revenue line, so a share of it means something to both sides.
  • You want us running it long term rather than handing it over and disappearing.
  • You can pay something. A partner build is a different structure, not free work.

Budget is not on that list. If you have the distribution and the patience, the money is the least interesting thing about the deal.

06 / Enquiry

What are you trying to run?

  • 01You describe the function
  • 02We answer in one business day
  • 03Then a paid scoping phase
  • 04Or we tell you it isn't a fit

No pricing on this page on purpose. The number depends on scope and we would rather work it out than publish a figure we would have to caveat.

Tell us what needs running

Describe the function you want a system to take off people, not the features you think it needs. If it isn't something we should build, we will say so.

Sent

We answer within one business day.