Scoped, documented, and handed over.
Every engagement ends with the client's team able to operate what was built. Work that only its author can run has not been finished.
Three ways in
Most engagements begin as one of these and are scoped before anything is built.
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Research engagement
A defined question about a market, an instrument or a strategy, answered with a dataset, a stated method and a written conclusion, including when the conclusion is negative. A result that does not support the hypothesis is still a deliverable, and is often the most valuable one.
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Build
A specified system delivered end to end: research, backtest, execution and monitoring, with documentation and handover to the people who will run it. Scope is fixed before work starts and changes are re-scoped rather than absorbed silently.
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Review & rescue
An independent look at an existing stack (methodology, code and risk controls) with findings, priorities and a realistic path to production. Often the fastest way to establish what a system is actually doing, as opposed to what it was intended to do.
What to expect
- Scoping first
- A short conversation about what exists now, what it needs to do, and whether this is the right fit. If it is not, you will be told so rather than sold something adjacent.
- Method stated up front
- What will be tested, how it will be evaluated, and what would count as a negative result. All agreed before the work rather than after the numbers are in.
- Costs before conclusions
- Spread, slippage, commission, financing, borrow and assignment are priced in before anything is described as an edge. Gross performance is an intermediate number, never a finding.
- Handover is part of the work
- Documentation, runbooks and a walkthrough with the people who will operate the system. The client owns the code and the research.
Engagements are typically fixed-scope. Ongoing work is arranged as a retainer where a system needs continued research or operational support after handover.