Waiting for MVP? You're paying for the wait.
This calculator models a user-set scenario for environment setup, access, and project readiness. Its output is arithmetic, not measured savings or a typical hiring outcome.
How much money burns while you set up env?
Move the sliders to your team. The math is printed below the result.
Math: user-set developers × (user-set salary ÷ 52) × user-set blocked weeks. This output is arithmetic, not savings. TDK is designed so tdk doctor and tdk up replace a setup wiki; onboarding time has not been measured on a hiring cohort.
The first month, two ways
Same five developers. Same project. Different first month.
Without TDK
Five machines, zero running systems
Installs, VPN, credentials. The setup wiki describes a stack that no longer exists.
The environment lottery
Two developers run the backend but not the database. One waits on the business analyst for specs. Nobody sees the whole system.
First commit, maybe
Half the team can finally run the project. The other half broke their setup trying.
Illustrative scenario: a month of payroll, a week of code
The MVP is already a month late and nobody wrote a line of product code in weeks one and two.
With TDK
Clone, tdk up, code
All five developers boot the full system — databases, queues, frontends — in minutes.
First feature branch
Hot reload works, tests run against the live stack, the BA call hasn't even ended.
First demo to stakeholders
An illustrative scenario showing what a shorter setup period could mean. TDK onboarding time has not been measured on a hiring cohort.
Illustrative scenario: a month of payroll, a month of code
This scenario assumes environment setup took one morning. It is an illustration, not a measured customer result.
Hire one a week — or unblock all five at once
The textbook advice is onboarding developers one per week so each gets attention. Reality hires the whole team on one Monday. TDK makes the realistic way work.
The +1 developer per week ideal
Staggered starts mean every newcomer gets a mentor, a working setup guide and review time. It takes five weeks to staff the team — and assumes someone senior has five free weeks to babysit environments.
The 5-at-once reality, unblocked
Hire all five together. Nobody needs a mentor for setup because there is no setup: the manifest generates every config, the doctor verifies every machine. Senior time stays on architecture, not on .env files.
Stop paying salaries for waiting
Core stays free. TDK is designed so tdk doctor and tdk up replace a setup wiki; onboarding time has not been measured on a hiring cohort.