Long-term Speed >>> Short-term Speed
Hi, I'm Will – a software consultant specializing in the problems of rapidly growing startups: scaling people, process, and machines.
Principles
- We spend more time reading code than writing it.
- We spend more time maintaining systems than building them.
- Good observability is the foundation of good performance.
- Kindness and enthusiasm are essential technical skills.
- There's no tradeoff between speed and quality.
- Agentic tools depend on a strong engineering culture.
How I can help
-
Performance
Most startups don't have a problem with load. They have a problem with observability — an inability to clearly see what their systems are doing — that manifests as a problem with load. I solve performance problems at the root: getting the right tooling in place so it's trivial to see what's going on, then upskilling the team to own scaling for years.
-
Observability
Most teams spend more time maintaining systems than building them, but they rarely invest in making those systems legible. And even when the team has great internal tooling, it won't be useful unless it's accompanied by great onboarding and training.
-
Coaching
You have a bunch of amazing engineers who haven't built out an organization before. They may not have thought about hiring pipelines, effective onboarding, data privacy regulations, team structure, engineer retention, SOC2 compliance, evolving practices and processes as the team grows, untangling large AI-generated codebases, or engineering management. I meet with your engineers on a regular cadence to act as a sounding board and help them navigate the demands of a rapidly growing startup.
-
Fractional CTO
Your team knows the right things to do, but it may still be hard to turn those "right things" into an effective roadmap and process for the next months and years. I listen, then help drive engineering clarity on what matters most.
Interested in working together?
I'd love to chat. Send me an email at [email protected] or grab some time on my calendar.