About Rob

I've worked across the full stack for over two decades. Web applications, server infrastructure, DevOps, integrations, hiring, team leadership. I pick the right tool for the job.

I spent 5 years as a technical interviewer, where I conducted 700+ structured technical interviews across companies and skill levels. That gave me a cross-section of developer quality that most hiring managers never get. I know what good looks like, and I know the patterns that predict problems.

I've taught web development at university level and ran training courses in a private course school. I've spoken at a webtech conference. These aren't things I lead with, but they shaped how I communicate technical concepts to people who aren't developers.

Fast judgment under pressure. When something goes wrong, I find the workaround that buys time while the proper fix is built.

Scope translation. Founders often know everything their product needs but struggle to sequence it. I turn "everything is priority 1" into a buildable plan with clear trade-offs. What's v1? What's later? What can we drop entirely?

Cross-domain thinking. Most dev teams have blind spots shaped by their habitual tools. I bridge those gaps because my experience spans the full stack and beyond.

Hiring and vetting. I filter for stewards, not just coders. People who own outcomes, not just tickets. And as AI changes what "developer skill" even means, this filter matters more than ever.

The trust layer. My best client relationships aren't just technical. The SimpliHost founder relies on me not just for tech decisions but as someone she trusts, someone who has her success at the top of his priorities. That's the "fractional technical partner" dimension that pure CTO labels miss.

I'm a craftsman by temperament. Patience, simplicity, do the work, respect the material. That runs through everything I do, from hand-tool woodworking to server-side rendering to how I approach a client's codebase.

I align with the 37signals philosophy: small teams, simple tools, don't overcomplicate things, ship what works. More code doesn't mean better products. More process doesn't mean better teams. The minimum structure that creates clarity is usually enough.

I still build my own products. Not just to stay sharp, but because the best advice comes from people who are still shipping, still making decisions, still feeling the consequences. If your advisor's only product is advice, ask what they're pressure-testing their ideas against.

I garden, I do hand-tool woodworking, I take photographs. I'm into comics, and novel writing. I have two kids, 8 and 7, and I try to be around for them as much as my schedule allows.

The gardening and woodworking aren't just hobbies. They're how I think about building software: patient, deliberate, respecting the material, working with the grain rather than against it.