Terms of service

These terms apply to services Ahmed Shahwan ("I") provides to you ("the client") through shahwan.me. They are written to be read, not skimmed past.

1. Services. Three paid services: a quick consultation (one online meeting of up to 90 minutes), a product exploration (a written product requirements document), and product development (a working MVP built in agreed milestones). What each includes, its price range and its timeline are on the website; the exact scope and price of each engagement are confirmed in writing by email before work starts.

2. How booking works. Request a service by email or LinkedIn. I reply with payment details. Once payment arrives, I send the private booking link or start date. Nothing is booked or started before payment.

3. Payment.

• Consultation: paid in full before the meeting.
• Exploration: 50% to start, the rest when the document is delivered.
• Development: paid by milestone. The first payment is due before work starts; later payments follow delivered milestones, not hours logged.
• Prices are in US dollars. Clients in Egypt may pay by bank transfer or InstaPay in Egyptian pounds at the exchange rate on the day of reservation. Clients abroad pay by bank wire. You cover your own bank and transfer fees.
• Late payment: work pauses after 7 days of non-payment; I do not charge interest.

4. Credit. The $100 consultation fee is credited toward a product exploration booked within 14 days of the meeting.

5. Scope and changes. Each milestone has written acceptance criteria. Anything outside them is a change request: I send its price and time impact, and work on it starts only after you approve in writing (email counts).

6. Acceptance. When I deliver a milestone, you have 7 days to test it against the acceptance criteria and report defects. Defects against the criteria are fixed at no cost. Silence after that period counts as acceptance.

7. Ownership. The intellectual property in the deliverables (documents, source code, designs I create for you) transfers to you when the final payment for that engagement clears. Until then I grant you a licence to use work delivered so far. I keep ownership of my pre-existing tools, libraries and know-how, and give you a perpetual licence to use any that are embedded in the deliverables. Open-source components stay under their own licences.

8. Confidentiality. I keep your business information, data and ideas confidential and use them only to deliver the work. This does not cover information that is already public or that you ask me to share. It continues after the engagement ends.

9. Portfolio. I will not name you or show your project publicly without your written permission.

10. Your responsibilities. Provide accurate information, timely feedback and access I need. Delays on your side move the timeline by the same amount.

11. Cancellation and refunds.

• Consultation: reschedule or cancel with at least 24 hours' notice for a free reschedule; later cancellations or no-shows forfeit the fee.
• Exploration and development: you may stop at any time. You pay for work completed up to that point; the amount already paid for work not yet started is refunded within 14 days. You receive the work completed so far.
• If I cannot deliver, I refund what you paid for undelivered work.

12. Warranty and liability. I do the work with professional care, but I cannot promise a particular business result (revenue, users, funding). My total liability for any engagement is limited to the amount you paid for it. I am not liable for indirect losses such as lost profit.

13. Third-party services. Hosting, domains, app-store and payment accounts are opened in your name and paid by you, so you stay in control of them.

14. Governing law and disputes. Egyptian law applies. We first try to settle disputes by talking; failing that, the courts of Cairo decide.

15. Changes. I may update these terms. An engagement is governed by the version in force when it was confirmed.

Contact: hello@shahwan.me