📍 Encinitas / Solana Beach · North County San Diego · 858-461-8054
CEO Software for SaaS MVPs — Built Fast by a Real Engineer in North County San Diego
I'm PJ, in Encinitas. I build SaaS MVPs for founders who've been burned by agencies, ghosted by offshore teams, or stalled out because their CTO hire didn't pan out — one human, no middlemen, real code shipped this month.
The short version
- I build working MVPs in 4–8 weeks, not 6 months
- You get the code, the repo, and the keys — no lock-in
- Flat weekly rate, no surprise invoices, no PMs on the call
- If it's not the right fit, I'll tell you in one text
Questions SaaS CEOs actually ask me
How much does a SaaS MVP actually cost in 2025?
A real working MVP — auth, payments, core feature, deployed — runs $15K–$40K with me. Agencies quote $80K–$250K for the same thing because they have account managers, strategists, and a junior doing the actual work. I'm the senior doing the actual work.
How fast can I get something in front of users?
Clickable prototype in week 1. Working auth + core loop in week 3. Paying users by week 6–8 if your scope is honest. The schedule slips when founders keep adding "just one more thing" — I'll push back on that.
Should I hire a CTO, an agency, or a solo dev?
Pre-revenue: solo dev. You don't need a CTO until you have a team to lead. You don't need an agency until you have a process to scale. Hire someone who ships, then hire the CTO when you have something to defend.
What stack are you building in?
Next.js, Postgres, Stripe, and whatever your future team will actually be able to hire for. I don't build MVPs in weird stacks that paint you into a corner in year two.
What if I already have code from a previous dev?
Send me the repo. I'll read it and tell you in one text whether to salvage, refactor, or throw it out. No charge for the read. Most of the time there's something worth keeping.
Will you sign an NDA and keep equity conversations off the table?
Yes on the NDA. No on equity — I work for cash so your cap table stays clean and we both stay honest. Cleaner that way.
Things I'd tell you for free
Cut scope in half
Whatever you think your MVP needs, it needs half of it. The other half is learned from your first 20 users, not from your own head.
Charge from day one
Free MVPs teach you nothing. Even $10/month from 5 real users tells you more than 500 signups from a free tier.
Skip the design system
Use Tailwind + shadcn. Looks pro, ships in a day, costs nothing. Don't hire a designer before you have product-market fit.
Own your infrastructure
Your GitHub org. Your AWS/Vercel account. Your Stripe. If a contractor owns any of those, you don't own your company.
Say no to custom integrations early
First enterprise customer always asks for SSO, SOC2, a custom SLA. Say no until 3 of them ask for the same thing.
Write the landing page first
If you can't explain the product in a headline + 3 bullets, you can't build it either. Landing page before Figma, always.
— PJ, SideGuy Solutions
20+ years shipping production code. Based in Encinitas. I answer my own phone and write my own code. If that sounds rare, it is.
Connect on LinkedIn →Got a SaaS idea stuck in draft?
Text me the pitch. I'll tell you in one message whether it's a 4-week build or a 4-month build — and whether I'm the right guy for it.
💬 Text 858-461-8054