You’ve spent real money. The deadlines keep slipping. The updates are vague. And you’re starting to wonder if the code even works.
You’re not crazy. And you’re not alone. Rescuing projects like yours is a big part of what we do.
A 30-minute call with our CTO. No pitch. No obligation. You’ll leave knowing exactly where your project stands.
If two or more of these sound familiar, it’s time for a second opinion:
Deadlines slip, and every explanation is more technical than the last
Your invoices keep growing but the demo looks the same
You ask to see the code and get excuses instead
Features get marked "done" but don't actually work
Your developer has gone quiet, or disappeared entirely
You're being asked for more money to fix things you already paid for
Your gut has been telling you something is wrong for months
Here’s the hard truth: nearly half of software projects go over budget, and one in five never meets its goals. The founders who recover fastest are the ones who get an outside opinion early.
That’s the email our client sent us the day she logged into the rescued app for the first time.
It means more to us than most messages we receive. Here’s why.
They spent over $100,000 developing their app. Features still didn’t work. Deadlines kept slipping. They came to us for a second opinion.
The review found every founder’s worst fear:
We stepped in to rescue the MVP. We stabilized the foundation, brought in our vetted security and compliance experts, and focused on one goal: getting them to revenue.
We didn’t just deliver an app. We earned back their trust in developers. That’s the part we’re proudest of.
Don’t wait until you’ve spent $150K to get a second opinion.
Most founders who come to us for a rescue hired a vendor when they needed a partner.
Do you know the difference?
A vendor is an order taker. They’ll build anything you ask for, as long as you pay. They won’t tell you a feature is unnecessary. They won’t warn you about security gaps. They won’t say “you don’t need this yet.” Why would they? Every line of code is billable.
A partner invests time to learn your business. They explain the pros and cons of each path so you can make the best decision. They help you avoid costly mistakes, even when avoiding the mistake means less work for them.
“The [prev] development team [built] what was fun for them, not what was viable for us.”
Terri Davis, Founder, Oolu. Hear her tell the story in her own words.
You tell us what’s happened. We tell you, honestly, what we think. Sometimes the news is better than you fear. Sometimes it’s worse. Either way, you’ll know.
If it makes sense to go deeper, we review what’s actually been built: code quality, security, architecture, and what works versus what’s been billed as working. You get a plain-language report. No jargon.
The biggest rescue mistake is trying to fix everything at once. We separate what must be fixed now (security, broken core features) from what can wait. Often more of your existing code is salvageable than you think. We’ll tell you when it is, because rebuilding from scratch costs you more.
We fix the foundation first. Then we prioritize the features that get you earning. Not the impressive ones. The revenue ones.
Throughout: You see everything. Bi-weekly demos of working software. Access to your own code repository from day one. Plain-language updates. The opposite of what got you here.
New Idea Machine exists because our CTO, Al Del Degan, spent 33 years watching businesses get overcharged and misled by development firms. We built NIM to be the opposite of what burned you:
Not at final payment. Day one.
No inflated fixed bids. You pay for work that gets done, and you see what got done.
Pause, leave, or move your software to any provider, any time, for any reason, and take everything with you.
Your IP is protected by North American law, and your project stays eligible for Canadian government funding like SR&ED. Terri didn't know her previous build made Oolu ineligible. Moving development to our Canadian team made her project SR&ED-eligible again.
You can't make confident decisions about your own product if you don't understand what's being proposed. We explain every option, with the pros and cons of each, in words you don't need a technical background to understand.
Not every troubled project is a scam. Sometimes it’s a communication problem, a scope problem, or a founder who changed direction four times. If your team is doing good work, we’ll tell you, and we’ll tell you how to get the relationship back on track. We’ve done it before.
If your idea hasn’t been validated, pouring more money into the code is the wrong move. One founder came to us wanting a custom social platform. We sent her to Circle and Slack instead ($100 a month versus a $60,000 build) so she could validate her community first. Rescuing software nobody will pay for isn’t a rescue. It’s a second sinking.
Maybe you need a fractional CTO for three hours a month. Maybe you need our free 14 Questions checklist before hiring your next developer. Maybe you need a security audit from our partners at ThreeShield, not a dev team. The free second opinion is exactly that: an opinion. You’re free to take it anywhere.
We’d rather talk you out of a bad spend than into a good contract. That’s how we’d want someone to treat us.
First, don’t panic. And don’t pay anyone who promises a fix before seeing what exists. Gather everything you have: contracts, invoices, code repository access, login credentials, hosting accounts, and any deployed version of the app. If your contract gave you IP ownership, the code is legally yours even if you can’t currently access it. The more access you can recover (hosting accounts, code repositories, app store accounts), the more of your investment can be saved. Start with a free second opinion before spending anything.
Usually some of it can be saved. In our experience, a full rebuild is needed less often than founders fear, and less often than some agencies claim, since rebuilds are more profitable for them. An independent code review tells you what’s salvageable. Beware of any firm that recommends a total rebuild without reviewing your code first.
It depends entirely on the state of the code, which is why we don’t quote without looking. What we can promise: time-and-materials billing (you pay only for work done), a triage plan that fixes critical issues first, and an honest assessment up front, including telling you if a rescue isn’t worth it. The second opinion is free.
You own every line of code from day one, you can leave at any time and take everything with you, we bill time and materials with no surprises, and we explain everything in plain language. Our contracts are deliberately built so you stay because you want to, not because you have to.
Yes. We’re based in Calgary and work with founders across Canada and the United States. All our developers are in Canada, which keeps Canadian projects eligible for government funding programs like SR&ED.
Then we’ll tell you that, and you’ll sleep better. About the worst outcome of a free second opinion is thirty minutes of reassurance.
You’ve felt like your tech stack is a black hole long enough.
Book a free 30-minute call with Al. You’ll get a straight answer about where your project stands and what your real options are, even if none of those options involve us.
Don’t wait until you’ve spent $150K to get a second opinion.
Book your complimentary consultation — even if you’re still figuring it out.
We’ll help you turn your idea into something you can share, test, and grow.
No pressure, just great advice
We’ll send you a mutual NDA before the call. Your idea stays yours.