About
I build web applications for startups.
I build web applications, and I've spent my career doing it in environments where the team is small, the runway is finite, and getting it wrong is expensive.
That means I'm used to working without a lot of process or hand-holding. I make architectural decisions that I'm prepared to defend. I write code I expect someone else will have to read. And I care whether the thing actually works in production, not just in the demo.
My background is exclusively in startups: companies at the pre-seed through Series A stage, building in markets that were still being defined. I've worked across the stack — relational databases, Python backends, modern front-end frameworks, and the infrastructure layer in between. I've shipped greenfield products, inherited problematic codebases, and done the less glamorous work of making existing systems reliable.
Working style
What I'm looking for
I do my best work with technical founders or small teams who know what they're building and need someone to help them build it. Not someone to tell them what to build. I'm not a consultant in the advisory sense. I write code and I ship things.
I prefer engagements where I can take real ownership of a surface rather than implement a detailed spec handed down from above. The best working relationships I've had have felt like a small team, not a vendor relationship.
The LLC
Mr. Jackdaw Company
I work under the name Mr. Jackdaw Company, LLC. For larger engagements, I occasionally bring in trusted collaborators: people I've worked with and whose work I can stand behind.
My goal, eventually, is to build out that network into something more structured. A small group of independent service-providers who can take on more ambitious projects together.
For now, it's mostly me.
If that sounds like the kind of working relationship you're looking for, I'd like to hear about your project.
Get in touch