A co-founder with a lab behind them.
Peppi Labs provides your technical co-founder: a senior engineer we vet and you interview, based in Pune or Mumbai and backed by the whole Lab. Ninety days to prove it, 180 days to commit, equity on both sides.
Great founders. No CTO.
A technical co-founder from Peppi Labs is a senior engineer who joins your company as a founding partner, backed by the Lab. It exists because the usual options fail non-technical founders: a CTO you cannot afford yet, an agency with no skin in the game, or a co-founder match that is mostly luck.
The hire you can't make yet
Senior CTOs cost more than an early budget allows, and the great ones are not answering job posts.
Agencies have no skin in the game
A vendor gets paid whether the product works or not. Nobody on the other side of the invoice owns the outcome.
Matchmaking is a coin flip
Co-founder platforms introduce strangers. Vetting, chemistry and follow-through are left to chance.
Skin in the game.
You get one senior engineer who works as your co-founder, and the studio behind them. Peppi Labs vets the person, backs them with the Lightning Dev sprint method, AI leverage and a bench of senior engineers, and earns equity alongside them. Everyone is invested in the same outcome.
A senior engineer based in Pune or Mumbai, with a shipping record, technical depth and founder temperament, checked by us before you meet them. You interview and decide.
Pune · MumbaiLightning Dev sprints, AI architecture, product judgment and senior engineers for surge capacity, on call from day one.
Method · Bench · AIAt day 180 the co-founder and Peppi Labs both take equity. Incentives line up with yours, not with the next invoice.
Equity, both sidesSix months to a commitment.
Five gates, two real decision points. Nobody is locked in until both sides have seen the work.
Peppi Labs screens the candidate: depth, delivery record, temperament.
You meet them, test the fit and decide together.
Accepted, they start as your technical co-founder, backed by the Lab.
A structured checkpoint against shipped work: continue, adjust, or part ways.
Commitment to proceed. The co-founder and Peppi Labs both take equity.
During the first 180 days you pay a monthly rate agreed up front. Equity terms are documented in a signed co-founder agreement at day 180. Every engagement is governed by a signed agreement.
A fit if.
This is for you if
You have a validated problem and early demand, but no technical leader.You have runway for a monthly rate during the trial.You want a partner who owns the outcome, not a vendor who bills for it.You can work with a co-founder in India, with a daily overlap window.Probably not if
You want a fixed-scope build and a clean handoff. That is a Sprint or a Project.
You need more hands under a CTO you already have. That is Embedded.
You are pre-idea, or you want a co-founder without sharing equity.
You need your technical leader in the room every day. Your co-founder works from India.
See the other ways in →Quick answers.
What is a technical co-founder from Peppi Labs?
A senior engineer, vetted by Peppi Labs, who joins your company as a founding partner and is backed by the Lab's methodology, AI tooling and bench. You interview them before anything starts.
How is this different from hiring a CTO or using an agency?
A CTO hire asks you to judge senior engineering work you may not be able to evaluate. An agency bills by the hour and has no stake in your outcome. A Peppi Labs co-founder is vetted before you meet, works inside your company, brings the Lab with them, and earns equity only at the day-180 commitment.
How is the co-founder vetted?
Peppi Labs screens for technical depth, a record of shipping real products, and founder temperament, then you interview them. Nobody starts until both sides say yes.
Where is the co-founder based?
Your technical co-founder works from Pune or Mumbai, two of the deepest senior engineering markets in the world, with a daily overlap window agreed before day one. Working this way is what makes founder-grade technical leadership affordable at seed stage, and the Lab sits in the same market, so vetting, backup and surge capacity are local to your co-founder rather than a time zone away.
How is this different from offshoring or an outsourced team?
Offshoring goes wrong when nobody has vetted the person, nobody is accountable for weak work, and the relationship is a contract for hours. Here the Lab vets the engineer before you meet them, the engagement is ownership rather than hours, and Peppi Labs takes equity alongside your co-founder at day 180. If we put forward the wrong person, that is our problem too.
What happens in the first 90 days?
They work as your technical co-founder from day one: architecture, build and product decisions, running the Lightning Dev loop. Day 90 is a structured review of what shipped and what was learned, ending in a decision to continue or adjust.
What happens at day 180?
Both sides commit to proceed. The technical co-founder and Peppi Labs each receive equity in your company under a signed co-founder agreement, and the engagement moves from trial to partnership.
What does it cost before day 180?
During the first 180 days you pay a monthly rate for the co-founder, agreed up front and documented in the engagement agreement. There are no equity obligations until the day-180 commitment.
How does equity work?
At day 180, if both sides commit, the co-founder and Peppi Labs each receive equity. Percentages, vesting and terms are set in the co-founder agreement; we do not publish standard numbers because every company is different.
Who owns the code?
You do. Work created for your company belongs to your company, as with every Peppi Labs engagement; the Lab keeps its pre-existing tools and know-how.
Can we part ways?
Yes. The day-90 review and the day-180 commitment are real decision points for both sides. If it is not working, either side can step back before equity is issued, on the notice terms in the agreement.
Meet your co-founder.
Tell us what you're building and where you are. We reply within one business day.