QTR Studio
Product-grade engineering for ambitious founders.
We design, architect, and ship serious products at startup speed.
Limited to 2–3 engagements per quarter
Swami
Founder & CEO, QTR
Known for blending engineering precision with product intuition. A rare combination of product strategist, UX designer, and engineer, in one person.
Designer behind the airport kiosk for US Airways (now American Airlines), used by millions of passengers. With years of experience building enterprise-grade web applications, Swami brings the same rigor and product-thinking to every Studio engagement.
Conversations with remarkable leaders on how they got to where they are. Past guests include the Stanford Health Care CIO, former NSF Director, and presidential candidates.
Rishi
Co-founder & CTO, QTR
Leads the engineering behind QTR and every Studio engagement. A backend engineer who builds production-ready APIs and services designed for reliability and scale.
Has shipped enterprise applications for companies of every size, from early-stage startups to Fortune 500s. Deeply experienced with AI-assisted development, from architecture planning to shipping clean, maintainable backend systems.
Previously built for
How we work
We care deeply about building the right product, designing it well, and engineering it to last.
Product-first thinking
We don't just build features. We design systems with clear product intent. What not to build matters as much as what to build.
Product, design, and engineering aligned
Product strategy, UX design, and engineering are unified under one direction, so there's no translation loss or handoff friction between teams.
Rapid execution
We move quickly without cutting corners. You get clean architecture and working software in weeks, not months.
We build our own products. So when we build yours, we think like founders, not vendors.
We're not a services company. We're product builders who selectively take on client work to fund our own product, QTR.
Case study
Project management software for an autonomous vehicle startup.
Led by one of Tesla's cofounders.
Custom project management platform
This team manages complex engineering across multiple countries with a large vendor supply chain. They were tracking critical paths on physical whiteboards using PERT charts. A previous software vendor tried to digitize it and failed. The product crashed and the interface was unusable.
We built a custom platform from scratch. It's been used daily for over a year with zero downtime. The team says it's more intuitive and visual than Microsoft Project, and it's completely replaced their whiteboards. We're now planning phase two.
Ground-up
Full build
1 yr+
In production
2
Contracts
Ongoing
Relationship
The QTR team with the Dimaag AI leadership
Swami's team replaced our entire planning system with something far more intuitive than Microsoft Project. It handles complex constraints specific to our workflow, and the team has been using it daily for over a year. We're already planning phase two.
Satish
CEO, Dimaag AI
Swami is an incredibly talented UX engineer. His ability to take complex problems and turn them into elegant, intuitive interfaces is remarkable. He's one of the most product-minded engineers I've worked with.
Rishi
Engineering Leader
Three ways to work together
Every engagement is scoped, priced, and delivered with clarity.
Product Launch
Web and mobile apps, shipped right
- Product & UX strategy
- High-fidelity design
- Full-stack web & mobile
- Launch support & handoff
- Direct access to Swami
Product Refinement
Level up what you've already built
- UX audit & recommendations
- Performance improvements
- Architecture cleanup
- Code quality review
- Clear documentation
Targeted Build
Landing pages, MVPs, and standalone features
- Landing pages & marketing sites
- MVP prototypes
- Dashboards & internal tools
- Standalone feature builds
FAQ
With AI, can't anyone build an app now?
AI can generate code. It can't make product decisions. Knowing what to build, how it should feel, and what to leave out takes experience. We use AI to move faster, but the thinking behind the product is what sets it apart.
What kind of work do you take on?
Web apps, mobile apps, dashboards, internal tools, MVPs, and landing pages. We've built for autonomous vehicle startups, Fortune 500s, hospitals, and solo founders. If it needs product thinking and clean engineering, we're a good fit.
Who actually does the work?
Swami and Rishi lead every project directly with the core QTR team. We're a small, senior team of engineers and designers. No outsourcing, no handoffs. Product direction stays with Swami, engineering with Rishi.
How is pricing structured?
Fixed scope, fixed price. We define deliverables and timelines upfront after a discovery call. No hourly billing, no surprises.
What happens after launch?
Most clients keep working with us. We offer ongoing support for bug fixes, new features, and architecture improvements. Our longest engagement is over a year and counting.
What if the direction isn't right?
We share design mockups and a working prototype early. If something feels off, we adjust before going deeper. We'd rather slow down and get it right than rush to ship the wrong thing.
Let's build something
worth shipping.
We take on a limited number of product engagements per quarter. If you're building something serious, let's talk.
swami@qtr.ai · San Francisco