Support
Frequently asked questions
The questions we get most often, about who we work with, how engagements run, and what happens after launch.
Who does Eight Bit Studios work with?
Two kinds of teams. Founders past the prototype who need a technical partner to figure out what to build and then ship it, and established businesses working out where AI belongs in a product they already run. If you've got a prototype from Cursor, Bolt, or Lovable and need to turn it into something people actually pay for, we're your fit.
How do Eight Bit Studios engagements work?
All engagements are monthly retainers. We work on a monthly retainer across three modes: Guide, Build, and Live. The mode is where your product is. The level is how much of us you need. Don oversees tech, Steve leads product. Guide Mode is Join, Scout, and Prove. Build Mode is Core, Plus, and Pro. Live Mode is Watch, Keep, and Grow. Pause, cancel, or switch anytime. No fixed-bid contracts, no time-and-materials billing, no long-term lock-in.
What's the difference between the three modes?
Guide Mode is when you need help deciding what to build: Fractional CTO and Fractional Product Lead leadership, technical R&D, and clickable prototypes. Build Mode is when you are ready to ship: full-stack web and mobile development, custom AI integrations, and end-to-end product delivery. Live Mode is for a product already in the wild.
What happens after my product launches?
Once the product goes live, Live Mode begins. Its levels are Watch, Keep, and Grow, and each builds on the one before it: monitoring first, then fixes, then customer support run to resolution. A Live Mode client taking a Build Mode phase for something new is the normal case.
Who else have you built for?
Founders past the prototype and established businesses adding AI to what they already run. We have also built for Vivid Seats, Allstate, Cars.com, and Nielsen, and that experience is part of what you get: the calls we make for a founder are informed by having shipped at that scale. Our sweet spot is helping a team ship a real product or rescue an AI prototype that hit the wall.
Are you looking for the anime studio, 8bit?
If so, that is 8bit Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, the animation studio behind That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. We are Eight Bit Studios in Chicago and Dallas, and we build software for founders and established teams. If you were looking for the anime studio, the contact page will point you to them.
What technologies does Eight Bit Studios use?
We build with Flutter (cross-platform mobile) and Ruby on Rails (backends and web). For AI, we do custom integrations with OpenAI, Anthropic, and other providers, not just thin wrappers. We're stack-opinionated because it lets us ship faster for founders.
Where is Eight Bit Studios based?
Chicago and Dallas. Don is in Chicago and Steve is in Dallas. We work remote-first with clients across the country, and we're happy to meet in person if you're local.