I build software for founders and small businesses. Usually I’m the person handling the whole arc: what to build, how it should work, and the code that ships.

iOS apps

An iPhone with the Sonato membership pass in Apple Wallet, held to the reader at a club door

A native app for iPhone and iPad, built so it feels at home on the device. That's the right call when your product really belongs on the home screen: notifications, the camera, offline access, wallet passes. If the app needs a backend, I build that too.

I built Sonato, a 5-star app whose Apple Wallet pass gets members through their club's front door. Apple has also featured apps I've worked on, like the travel journal Bonjournal.

Web apps

mycharity: water's launch counter showing $502,758 raised to date

Software that runs in the browser, so anyone can use it on any device with nothing to install. That might be a product your customers sign up for, or a tool your own team logs into. I build the whole stack: the interface, the API, the data, and the infrastructure under it.

I built mycharity: water, which raised $500,000 in two months, and was Sourcetable's first engineer.

An existing product

Hipmunk's home screen with the chipmunk mascot and search field

An app or site you already have, maybe an agency handoff, a stalled build, something that's outgrown its first developer, or a codebase nobody understands anymore. I can take it on, get my bearings, and help you move forward.

I took over Hipmunk's iOS app years into its life and led its mobile team. I've also worked inside big established codebases like Twitch's.

Nothing built yet? That’s how most projects start. You don’t need to know whether you want an iOS app or a web app. Figuring that out is part of the early work, and then we turn the plan into a first version. It’s how my own apps Little Memory and Ready Time began.

What I handle

  • Product definition
  • UX design
  • Architecture
  • Agentic engineering
  • APIs and integrations
  • Testing and QA
  • User testing
  • App Store and web releases
  • Infrastructure
  • Analytics and monitoring
  • Security and privacy

How we’ll work together

  1. Hello

    You tell me what you're working on. We hop on a call and talk through what you need, timing, budget, and whatever you already have: a team, a codebase, designs, or just the idea.

  2. Discovery

    A short, fixed-price stretch, usually a few weeks, that turns the idea into something we can actually build: the product shape, the technical approach, some mock pages, and a roadmap with costs. The plan is yours to use with any team, and the fee credits fully toward the build if we keep going.

  3. Build

    I design, code, and test in short cycles. You get working software to try along the way: real builds, on a regular rhythm, not a long quiet stretch and a big reveal at the end.

  4. Launch

    I handle the rollout: App Store release or deployment, monitoring, analytics, and fixing what breaks. Software still needs care after launch, and I stick around for that: updates, and figuring out what comes next.

If the project is small and clearly scoped, we can skip discovery and go straight to an estimate.

Another way to work together

Fractional work

Sometimes you don't need a whole project delivered. You need someone senior around every week: making the hard technical calls, building the tricky parts, and keeping the plan honest. I take a few fractional clients on a monthly retainer, for a set number of hours each week.

  • Ongoing product work
  • The mobile side of your product
  • Embedded senior engineer
  • Hiring your engineers

We skip discovery and start with the same first call: what you're building, where it hurts, and how many hours a week would actually help. Everything under What I handle is fair game, and the ownership note below applies here too.

How a fractional engagement works →

Ownership

You'll own it when we're done

Everything lives in accounts with your name on them: the code repo, the App Store account, the infrastructure. I can set those up and run them for you, so you don't have to be technical to own the stack. When we wrap up, another developer, your first hire or another team, should be able to pick things up without detective work.

Not sure what you need? Some projects are clearly one of the three above. Some are smaller. Some don't need custom software at all. Tell me what you're trying to do and I'll give you an honest read, even if the right answer is an off-the-shelf tool instead of me.

I work with people anywhere. I'm based in Petaluma, in the North Bay.

Tell me what you're working on

I've got room for a few new projects. Write to me and I'll reply with how I'd approach it. I read every message myself.

hello@nerdtower.com