Deep where it counts.

Excellent communication

Clear from the first message.

Language

Native English speaker

Based

Toronto, Canada (British)

Overlap

North American and European working hours

I'm a native English speaker, British, and based in Toronto. Eastern time overlaps the whole North American working day and the European afternoon, which makes working with founders on either side of the Atlantic straightforward.

You can expect excellent communication right from the start: briefs read back to you in plain language, decisions explained with their reasoning, and updates that tell you exactly where things stand.

Systems architecture

The business first, then the system that serves it.

Experience

25+ years

Range

Idea through to exit

Hats worn

Bookkeeper to CEO

For over 25 years I've built and managed multiple companies, from the initial idea all the way through to exit. I've worn every hat from bookkeeper to CEO, so I understand every facet of a business, and that the business comes before the technology.

You're not hiring a coder. You're hiring someone with real-world experience of what a system has to do for the company around it.

Rust

Low-level, performance-sensitive software.

Experience

8+ years

Open source

Vector core contributor, 4+ years

Reach

As close to the CPU as the job needs

Over eight years of Rust, including more than four as a core contributor to the Vector project. I'm comfortable working with low-level code and APIs, and I can drop as close to the CPU as we need to get.

C#

My preferred stack for business applications.

Chosen for

Type safety, excellent database access, dependency injection

Ecosystem

Commercially supported tooling

Too many people shun the Microsoft stack simply because it's Microsoft. C# is a flexible, modern language and framework, and it is extremely productive to work with.

I choose it for its type safety, its excellent database access, dependency injection, and a rich ecosystem of commercially supported tooling. For business applications, it's where I start.

TypeScript & React

Every front end, typed end to end.

React

Since its first release

Framework

TanStack, SSR-first

Client

Fast client-side apps and navigation where needed

All my front ends are written in TypeScript, usually on TanStack. I've been using React since its very first release. My default is an SSR-first approach, coupled with fast client-side apps and navigation where the product calls for it.

PostgreSQL

The database of choice.

Role

Main database

Also

Job queues, document-style data

PostgreSQL is my database of choice. I use it as the main store, and I lean on it for job queues and NoSQL-style requirements too, rather than adding a second system before one is needed.

Kubernetes & OpenTofu

Robust, highly scalable deployments.

Clouds

Linode, Amazon AWS, Google Cloud

Chosen by

Requirements and what fits the business

I generally deploy on Kubernetes, defined in OpenTofu, for a system that is robust and scales well. I work with Linode, Amazon AWS and Google Cloud, and pick between them on requirements and what fits the business best.

Python & Go

Second-choice languages, first-hand experience.

Experience

5+ years each

Used for

Dipping into either ecosystem as required

I have plenty of experience with both Python and Go, over five years in each. These days they tend to be my second-choice languages, but I can dip into either ecosystem as the project requires.