About

I build the thing, ship it, and stay with it.

Atropos is a one-person software consultancy. I build web products end to end, then stick around for the part where real users, real data and real traffic start disagreeing with the plan.

I have spent fifteen-odd years across frontends, backends and the infrastructure underneath them. Long enough to have caused a few outages, cleaned up more than a few, and developed a healthy suspicion of cleverness for its own sake.

There are no account managers here. No requirements whispered through three layers of meetings before they reach the person writing the code. You talk to the engineer doing the work, which is occasionally uncomfortable and usually much faster.

How I work

A few opinions, held firmly.

Boring tech, on purpose

The exciting framework can be a liability in two years. I reach for the dull, proven thing unless there is a real reason not to.

Ship small, ship often

You see working software early, not a slide deck in month three. Small releases make the truth cheaper.

I will tell you no

If a feature is a bad idea, you will hear it before it is built, not after the invoice. Cheaper for both of us. Occasionally annoying. Usually useful.

Handover, not hostage

If you outgrow me, you leave with clean code, real docs and no secret knowledge trapped in my head.

Am I the right fit?

A good fit if you

  • Want one senior engineer who can own the whole build.

  • Would rather hear an honest no than an expensive yes.

  • Care more about software lasting than software demoing well.

  • Want to speak directly to the person writing the code.

Probably not, if you

  • Need a large team running ten workstreams at once.

  • Want a yes-machine for whatever is already in the deck.

  • Are chasing a new framework purely because it is new.

  • Prefer everything to go through an account manager.

Still reading? We might get on.

Tell me what you are working on. If I am not the right person for it, I will say so.

Get in touch →