Who I work with, and why

I work with non-technical SaaS founders who are paying for development that is not working. My job is to replace that arrangement and get them back to running their business.

The pattern is consistent across the founders I work with. They have a product that exists. They have revenue between $50K and $3M ARR. They are spending five to twenty thousand dollars a month on development and cannot point to what they got for it last quarter.

They have tried an offshore agency, or freelancers, or a vibe-coded v1, or some combination. They have learned enough code to follow what their team is doing. They are tired.

I replace the entire layer between the founder and the product working. One senior engineer plus an AI software factory, writing code on the founder's behalf, against specs the founder approves before the code is written. The founder goes back to running the business. The product moves.

What got me here

I sold my first company at 23. After that I spent thirteen years building software across agencies, Fortune 500s, and scaling SaaS companies. Senior to principal roles at ActiveCampaign, Iru (formerly Kandji), and Laurel.ai. Five years running my own development agency (Red Hook), which became the lab for everything that came next.

I saw every failure mode. Scope creep disguised as agile. Junior devs billed at senior rates. Codebases nobody could maintain. Teams that were perfectly capable but had no shared system for thinking about what they were building. I watched smart people write bigger and bigger checks for the same problems, because nobody had the incentive to fix the root cause.

At some point I realized the problem was rarely the people. It was the system. Teams do not need more resources. They need a clearer way to think about what they are building. When you give them that, the work starts compounding instead of spinning.

Now I work directly with SaaS founders as their engineering partner. One product. One relationship. For as long as you need.

I do not advise from the sidelines. I build.

Philosophy

Never rewrite.

The most expensive decision in software is starting over. Almost every rewrite is avoidable. The problem is rarely the code. It is the absence of a system that defines what the code should do.

Define before you build.

The spec is not bureaucracy. It is the foundation. Before I write code, I write a plain-language spec describing what the product should do and why. The founder approves the spec, not the code.

AI is a multiplier, not a replacement.

Companies with documented business logic, structured specs, and clean architecture can use AI at a level their competitors cannot match. Without that foundation, AI just produces bad code faster.

Credibility

13 years building software. Principal-level roles at ActiveCampaign, Iru (formerly Kandji), and Laurel.ai. Founder of Red Hook Interactive ($2.7M in agency revenue, over $1M paid out in developer payroll across five years). One business sold at 23.

I know what breaks and why. That is not something you learn from a course. It is something you learn from being in the room when things go wrong.

The methodology, in long form

The methodology behind the work is documented on Better Every Cycle. Start with Why a B2B SaaS Was Stuck for Two Years, and How I Unfroze It in 90 Days.

The story I hear the most

A founder was spending $8K a month on an offshore team and still managing every detail. Within a few months of working together, he had one partner who understood the product, the codebase, and the roadmap. He stopped managing developers. He went back to running his business.

He went on vacation without his laptop for the first time in years.

He told me he would like to work with me for the rest of the time he owns the product.

Common questions

What if I already have freelancers or an agency?

I evaluate what you have. If your developers are solid, I give them better direction and better specs. If something is not working, we fix it or replace it. You do not have to blow everything up on day one.

What technologies do you work with?

JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, Nest.js, React, Next.js, Vue, Angular, React Native, PHP, Java, Python, and most things built on top of them. 13 years of shipping across these stacks. The technology is rarely the hard part. Understanding the product and the business is.

How is this different from hiring a freelancer?

A freelancer builds what you tell them to build. I figure out what should be built, write the spec, and build it right. You stop being the translator.

I am not technical. Will I understand what is happening?

Yes. Before I write code, I write a spec in plain language. It describes what the product should do and why. You review the spec, not the code. You always know what is being built.

How is this different from a fractional CTO?

A fractional CTO only advises. I advise and ship. The thinking and the building happen in one seat.

Can I just start with the Audit?

Yes. That is exactly what it is for. The $997 buys you a written Clarity Report and a 30-day roadmap. If we work together on a path after, the $997 credits forward against your first invoice. If we don't, you still have a clear picture of where your product stands. Either way, the Audit pays for itself.

What if I want a path without the Audit?

I do not sell paths without the Audit. The Audit is how I see what you have and write a roadmap that says whether a given path is the right fit. Without it, I am shipping fixes blind, which is not worth your monthly fee and not worth my time. The credit-forward mechanic makes the net cost zero when you continue.

Do I have to commit long-term?

No. The Audit is one week. Founder's Coaching, Maintenance, PMF Accelerator, and Scale Accelerator are month-to-month with no long-term contract. Ship Sprints are paid up front for a fixed duration.

What if I eventually need a full-time engineer?

Then we find you the right one. I help define the role, vet candidates, and onboard them into a product that is documented and spec-driven so they are productive from day one.

What if I'm not happy with the service?

If for whatever reason you aren't happy with the service, I offer a full refund. I'll do my absolute best to meet your expectations, but if it's not working out within the first 30 days, I offer a full refund.

Spending money on dev and not sure it is working? Let's talk.

A 30-minute call costs nothing. The Clarity Audit costs $997 and credits forward 30 days against any path you book after.

Book a discovery call Or read about the Clarity Audit