Why Do Our Project Budgets Seem High From the Outside?

We get this question a lot. And most of the time, I answer it with another:

“How long do you expect your product to live?”

Not long ago, I sat down with a startup founder over coffee. His passion was undeniable; his project was going to change the world. But experience was limited, and the roadmap was unclear. Which features should come first? What would users actually value? Where could the product evolve? The more uncertainty grew, the longer his feature list became, and the product was already starting to swell.

That’s when I noticed the small water bottle on the table. It held the perfect metaphor. The water is the essence: your business. What changes is the container you choose to put it in.

Think about the flimsy sealed water cup you get on a plane. One sip, and it’s done. Or the classic plastic bottle: fine for a day, but not much longer. And then the glass bottle: sturdy, refillable, lasting for years. Even at a restaurant, it’s the same water, but the context, purpose, and expectations change whether it’s served in a simple glass or a crystal carafe.

So I told him: “Your water is good. But first we need to decide what kind of container you actually need.” Because sometimes the right move is speed, getting an MVP live quickly to test the idea. That doesn’t need a large team or a perfect product. It might die. It might survive on just two features. It might pivot entirely. That’s why starting with a crystal carafe isn’t always rational.

Here’s where we’re honest: not every project is right for us. At Atolye15, our expertise is in the glass bottles: products that are durable, scalable, and built to earn trust in long-term collaborations. That means working with care, laying solid foundations, thinking about tests, traceability, security, design systems, documentation. These aren’t just technical details; they’re what make lasting client success possible. From the outside, that can make our budgets look “high.” But they only look high if you compare them with disposable cups. When you measure against true long-term costs, the rewrites, the firefighting, the patchwork fixes, our way is often cheaper.

And do we build MVPs? Yes, we do. But not like throwaway cups. We design them more like a light glass bottle: minimal in scope, fast to launch, but with enough strength to grow if it succeeds. The architecture, testing, and security are there from day one. Today, you get speed; tomorrow, you get effortless scale.

After 16 years, one thing is clear: the right container changes everything. When the market shifts, when user expectations rise, if your product is built to last, your business doesn’t spill away. That’s our job: to create not just working products, but living ones. Sometimes that’s a crystal carafe, sometimes a light glass bottle. It depends on what you need.

In the end, what I told the founder was simple: “Your water is good. Let’s first decide together what you should put it in.” Maybe today it’s a small team and a quick MVP. Maybe it’s time for a product that will live for years. Either way, the conversation itself is valuable. Because once you choose the right container, the value of the water reveals itself.

So it all starts with asking yourself what you really need. But you don’t have to have all the answers before you begin. What matters is starting the conversation. Tell us about your project, your goals, even your uncertainties. Together, we’ll figure out what makes the most sense for you, and build it the right way.