Breakwater

Services

What we deliver.

Two tracks, five pillars. Everything below is an outcome we can name, measure, and ship — not a menu of capabilities in search of a problem.

Grow Track

For existing businesses →

Build Track

For experts & operators →

TL;DR

Breakwater Digital runs two kinds of engagements. Grow track: we move a metric for an existing business — awareness (SEO, content, AI search), leads (landing pages, paid media, CRO), revenue (pricing, retention, paywalls), or efficiency (AI automation). Build track: we run product, design, and engineering end-to-end as a fractional CPO engagement for experts, creators, and capital operators shipping iOS apps, web apps, or SaaS platforms. Grow engagements run weeks to months. Build engagements run months to years. Pricing is fixed-scope or retainer — never hourly.

Grow Track

For businesses that need a metric moved.

Scoped. Measurable. Sold on ROI. Typical engagements run weeks to months.

01

Awareness

Get found by the right people.

The right customers don't know you exist yet. We fix that — with SEO, content, brand, local visibility, and optimization for AI search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews).

Who this is for: Businesses that get mediocre traffic, show up on page 3 for their core terms, or know their brand is weaker than their product deserves.

How we deliver it

  • Technical and on-page SEO audits
  • Content strategy and production
  • Local SEO for LA / South Bay
  • AI search optimization (AEO / GEO)
  • Brand refresh and website redesign
  • Google Business Profile optimization
02

Leads

Fill the pipeline with people ready to buy.

Traffic without conversion is just noise. We turn attention into conversations with landing pages that convert, paid media that performs, and funnels that measure what matters.

Who this is for: Businesses with traffic that isn't converting, ad campaigns that burn budget, or sales teams who don't have enough at-bats.

How we deliver it

  • Landing pages and conversion optimization
  • Paid media (Google, Meta, LinkedIn)
  • Lead magnets and gated content
  • Funnel design and A/B testing
  • Analytics, attribution, and tracking setup
  • Forms and integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce)
03

Revenue

Grow what you already have.

The cheapest customer to acquire is the one you already have. We grow revenue per customer and keep them longer — through pricing strategy, retention systems, and better upsell mechanics.

Who this is for: E-commerce stores stuck on the same AOV, SaaS products losing customers out the bottom, service businesses that don't upsell.

How we deliver it

  • Pricing and packaging strategy
  • E-commerce optimization (Shopify, custom)
  • Retention and churn reduction programs
  • Upsells, cross-sells, and paywalls
  • Cohort analysis and LTV modeling
  • Subscription and billing architecture
04

Efficiency

Do more with less, using AI.

Most businesses are drowning in work AI can now do in seconds. We find those gaps and close them with practical integrations, automation, and internal tools — not demos.

Who this is for: Operators spending hours on repetitive work, teams bottlenecked by manual processes, founders who want AI to be a moat — not a marketing line.

How we deliver it

  • AI integrations (GPT, Claude, Gemini, open models)
  • Workflow automation and internal tools
  • RAG systems on proprietary data
  • Document processing and extraction
  • Custom AI agents and copilots
  • Build-vs-buy assessments

Build Track

For operators ready to build something new.

Deeper, longer engagements. Sold on vision and execution credibility. Think fractional CPO, not contract dev shop. Typical engagements run months to years.

05

Platforms

Turn what you know into what people pay for.

You have expertise, a community, or capital — but no product. We run product, design, and engineering end-to-end, so you can ship a real platform without a full CTO hire. This is a deeper engagement than the Grow track: think fractional CPO, not contract dev shop.

How we deliver it

  • Product strategy and roadmapping
  • iOS and cross-platform mobile apps
  • Web apps and SaaS platforms
  • AI-native product design
  • Technical architecture and team hiring
  • MVP to scale — not just prototypes

Who this is for

The Expert

“I have domain authority but no product.”

Consultants, professionals, and thought leaders whose expertise deserves to scale beyond 1:1 work.

The Community Builder

“I have an audience and I'm leaving money on the table.”

Creators, newsletter operators, and community leads whose audience is ready for paid tools and content.

The Capital Operator

“I have conviction and funding — I need execution.”

Angels, fund partners, and founders with capital who need someone to run the build without a full-time CTO.

How we work

Simple process, real results.

The shape of the engagement changes between tracks, but the process doesn't. We listen before we build, and we ship before we polish.

01

Discover

We listen. What are your goals? What's broken? What does success look like in 90 days?

02

Define

We scope the work, choose the right approach, and set clear milestones you can hold us to.

03

Build

We design and develop in focused sprints, keeping you in the loop with working software — not slide decks.

04

Launch & Iterate

We ship, measure, and refine. Your project doesn't end at launch — that's when the real work begins.

Already know what you need?

Jump straight to the right track.

Five specialized engagements with their own pricing, process, and FAQs — for merchants, ecommerce stores, revenue teams, operators, and founders. Pick the one that matches your problem.

For merchants

Sell more on Shopify.

Shopify 2.0 builds from $3K, migrations off Wix / Squarespace / WooCommerce, and a month-to-month dev partnership once you’re live.

Shopify Developer, Los Angeles →

For ecommerce stores

Get found on Google & AI shopping.

Productized $500 audit (up to 50 SKUs) that clears disapprovals, fixes Shopify ↔ Google, and gets you cited by AI shopping. Monthly from $500/mo.

Google Merchant Center Feed Optimization →

For revenue teams

AI for your GTM team.

Productized two-week audit of your full GTM stack, then month-to-month engineering: BDR research agents, lead enrichment, deal-risk scoring, churn prediction, automated QBRs, Salesforce / HubSpot / Gong integration.

Revenue AI Engineer →

For operators

Put AI to work across your team.

Workflow automation, custom agents, RAG systems, and internal tools — built on GPT, Claude, Gemini, or open models, wired into the software you already run.

AI Consultant, Los Angeles →

For experts & founders

Ship a platform without hiring a CPO.

A fractional Chief Product Officer for subject-matter experts, creators, and capital operators shipping iOS, web, or SaaS platforms.

Fractional CPO →

Services FAQ

How we answer the usual questions.

Questions that come up on almost every first call. If yours isn't here, ask us directly.

How much does a custom website cost in Los Angeles?

For a Grow-track marketing website — strategy, design, copy, development, launch — we typically quote $8K–$30K depending on scope, integrations, and content needs. Platform-scale builds (SaaS, iOS, internal tools) run $30K–$150K+ and are usually paired with an ongoing retainer. We don't charge hourly, and we don't sell Squarespace templates dressed up as custom work.

How long does a web or app build take?

A typical Grow-track marketing website takes 6–10 weeks from kickoff to launch. A Build-track platform or SaaS MVP takes 3–6 months to first paying users. Every project runs on clear milestones you can hold us to — no open-ended timelines.

What is a fractional CPO and when do I need one?

A fractional Chief Product Officer is an experienced product leader who runs a company's product function part-time — typically 1–3 days a week. Fractional CPOs are used by early-stage startups that aren't ready for a $400K full-time hire, by capital operators who are funding a thesis without a full team, and by founders who want senior product judgment without bringing on another executive. Breakwater offers fractional CPO engagements in the Build track.

Can AI actually help my small or mid-size business?

Yes, but not in the way marketing copy implies. AI is most valuable in three specific places: (1) replacing repetitive manual work — data entry, reporting, proposal generation, research; (2) providing always-on operational leverage — first-line support, internal knowledge retrieval, document processing; (3) enabling capabilities that used to require specialists — copy drafting, data analysis, light design. It's less useful as a customer-facing feature unless AI is core to your product. We help you figure out which apply.

Do I need a new website, or just better SEO?

Often better SEO is enough. If your site is reasonably modern — fast, mobile-friendly, crawlable — has clear service pages, and hasn't been redesigned in the last 3 years, SEO and content usually outperform a full rebuild. We'll tell you honestly which one makes sense. It's rarely in our interest to sell you a site you don't need.

How is AI search (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews) different from regular SEO?

Traditional SEO optimizes for Google's ranked list. AI search (sometimes called GEO or AEO — generative / answer engine optimization) optimizes for being cited inside the AI-generated answer itself. It favors clearly structured content — FAQ schema, explicit Q&A, concise TL;DR summaries, proper JSON-LD — because LLMs lean on that structure to decide who to cite. We build both into the same engagement.

What industries do you work with?

We're industry-agnostic by design. Our team has shipped in fintech, insurance, food & beverage, fashion, music, advertising, healthcare, retail, SaaS, and real estate. The common thread: complex businesses that need product thinking applied to growth, operations, or new platforms.

Do you offer ongoing support or only project work?

Both. Most Grow-track projects end with a warm handoff — we train your team and you run with it. Some clients retain us on a light retainer for ongoing optimization (SEO, CRO, paid media, analytics). Build-track engagements are retainer by design because product leadership is an ongoing function, not a one-time deliverable.

Will you work with businesses outside the South Bay or LA?

Yes. Grow-track engagements tend to be local because Chamber ties, in-person meetings, and same-timezone work matter for relationship-driven services. Build-track engagements are typically remote and national.

Do you do PR, social media management, or community management?

Not as ongoing services. We can help with PR and launch strategy for new platforms (Build track) and we can design the systems that feed social content, but we don't staff your social calendar or moderate your community. Those functions are better run in-house or by specialists.

Not sure which track is yours?

Start with a conversation. We'll help you figure out what's worth building — and what isn't.

Let's talk