Two founders, in it with you.
Jonathan Chamblee builds the product and Dalton Locke builds the business around it. Together we finish and launch software for founders, and we invest in the companies we build for.
Jonathan Chamblee
Founder & CEO, TDAT · COO, PONO.AI · Co-Founder, LifeScribeAI and dBunk
"I know what it costs to build something great and what it costs even more to watch it fail because the execution was not there. I believe that the right idea in the right hands at the right speed changes everything. TDAT exists to be those hands."
Jonathan sold enterprise software before he wrote any, so he learned early which products get bought and which sit unused. He founded TDAT without investors. He works directly with founders on architecture, delivery decisions and what has to be true before a release goes out.
- 100+
- applications across Jonathan's career
- $170M+
- portfolio value across that work
Dalton Locke
Founder, PONO.AI · Co-Founder, MIT45 · Host, The Spiritual Capitalist
"Build the business without losing the soul."
Dalton’s work spans PONO.AI, MIT45 and The Innovators Table, a private founder gathering. At TDAT, he brings founder relationships and business-building experience to discussions about a product’s market, distribution and next priorities.
Build
Web and mobile products
Finish
Software that stalled before launch
Automate
AI agents and business workflows
Hand over
Code and accounts in your name
What the work has taught us
A release needs a working customer journey
A release is useful when a customer can get through the whole task. The UpGig rebuild includes employer workflows, a hiring pipeline and AI phone screens. We review journeys like those to decide whether the product does its job.
See the UpGig decisions and lessonsA chat reply needs somewhere to go
In PONO, work from an assistant conversation can become a task in a selected project, with an optional assignee and an Open the task link after a successful save. The reply ends up as work that a person owns and can check.
Follow PONO’s conversation-to-task workflowA voice feature has work after the call
LifeScribe connects Ari’s conversations to transcripts, saved memories and family access controls. The release covers the path from a conversation to the material a family member can find and read.
Explore LifeScribe’s memory workflowOwnership needs a usable handover
A founder needs access to the repository and the operating accounts, plus the setup instructions for running the product. We agree those, and how the work will be checked, as part of the scope.
Read the ownership and handover checksLooking for Jon’s contact details? Open Jonathan Chamblee’s contact card.
What clients said while we were building.
These are from project calls and emails, used with each person's permission.
“A three-person team doesn't normally ship a working product this fast.”
“It looks really good. I'm actually very impressed with what you came up with.”
“That looks so much better. Thank you. It's coming together. I'm super excited.”
“I appreciate you taking it over ... I like where it's going better.”
How we work with you
You stay in charge of your own product.
Your code and accounts are in your name from the first day, and we tell you when something is not worth finishing. You see working software as we go, so you can check the progress yourself.
Your repo and keys are yours from day one
What we build for you lives in your repository and in accounts your business controls. At handover you get the setup instructions and configuration references, and we agree who is responsible for running what.
Not every product should be finished
After an assessment we may recommend rebuilding, cutting scope or stopping. We put the reasons and the limits of what we looked at in writing before you approve any build work.
Working releases you can review
We agree with you how often you review the work, what counts as done and who signs off. You see each release in your own accounts and can compare it with the plan and what is left.
What happens on the call
First 10 minutes
You talk and we listen: what you want to improve, the tools you use now and the result you need.
Next 15 minutes
We give you our first read: what needs investigation and what a first piece of work would cover.
Last 5 minutes
If it makes sense, we set up the $999 Diagnostic. If it does not, we say so and point you somewhere useful.
30 minutes to talk through the project and agree a next step. The call does not replace a technical assessment.
“I appreciate you taking it over ... I like where it's going better.”
Robert Futch, UpGig
Questions founders ask
We agree the scope and price in writing before we start, along with how often you review the work and how we both check that it is done. Your code and operating accounts stay under your business’s control. The Diagnostic gives you a written assessment you can use to decide what to do next. Our case studies show the products we have worked on and the stage each one is at.
What we build for you lives in your repository and in accounts your business controls. The written agreement should cover the ownership terms, third-party licenses, handover responsibilities and how you recover access.
Then you will hear it from us first, with the reasons in writing. Sometimes the right call is a rebuild that keeps the thinking and replaces the code. Sometimes it is finishing what exists. Either way you decide with real information.
The first conversation is free. The Diagnostic has an agreed scope and a fixed price. A build proposal lists what is included, the assumptions, what is left out, the recurring costs and how changes get approved.
We plan around your current users and test the journeys the change touches. Before cutover we agree how we will check that it worked and how we would recover if it did not. The approach depends on the architecture, data and integrations involved.
Tell us where it's stuck. We'll tell you what we'd do.
The consultation is free and takes 30 minutes. If a Diagnostic makes sense, it is $999, usually back in 24 to 48 hours, and it comes off your build if you go ahead.
Book a free consultation