hire the engineers, not the agency.
Two of us. We write the code and make the technical calls you've been avoiding. No account managers, no handoffs, no deck theater.
what we do
Same two engineers either way. You pick the shape of the engagement, not a tier on a pricing table.
fractional CTO
We sit in your planning meetings, review PRs, unblock your vendors, and make the calls you don't want to make alone.
→custom software
Web apps, integrations, dashboards, and back-office tools, documented so your next hire can take over without us.
→tech rescue
Inherited a mess? We audit the code and infrastructure, tell you the truth, and hand you a plan you can act on with or without us.
→kick the tires.
We'd rather show than tell. This is a real shell, not a screenshot. Type help to see what it knows.
who trusts us
Average client relationship: 18 months.
"Like having a CTO without the overhead. They understand our business and consistently deliver solutions that drive real results."
David · Founder, First Financial
"Stacware didn't just build us a website, they became our technology partner. The quality of their work is exceptional."
Omar · CEO, Draping Weddings
"The custom invoicing system transformed our operations, and they keep improving it as we grow. Worth every penny."
Mariah · Operations, Inada Pools
let's talk about the thing you keep pushing to next sprint.
three ways to get help.
Pick the engagement that matches where you are. We'll tell you if you picked wrong, that's part of the first call.
fractional CTO
- weekly leadership standup
- architecture + hiring reviews
- vendor & contractor triage
- async on-call for the CEO
- roadmap & capex planning
- light hands-on-keys when needed
build sprints
- shipped v1 in the first month
- paired directly with both founders
- weekly demos, no dog-and-pony
- full handoff docs & runbooks
- post-launch support window
- fixed fee, no padding
tech rescue
- code & infra audit
- findings doc + priority matrix
- 30-day triage plan
- vendor / contractor sanity check
- one debrief call with your team
- no obligation to continue
how it goes
Six steps from first call to handoff. No surprises in the middle.
We ask annoying questions.
45-minute call. We dig into the problem, the budget, and who already said no.
One-page brief, not a deck.
You get a single doc: what, why, when, and who pays what. Sign or don't.
Demos on Fridays.
Real software every week. No hidden branches, no mystery timelines.
We press the button together.
Launch plan, rollback plan, monitoring, and a pizza. Probably.
Runbook or it didn't ship.
Every project ends with docs your next hire can follow without us.
We stick around.
Retainer, ad-hoc, or just answering the occasional text. Your call.
questions
The ones we get asked on nearly every first call.
Why only two of you? +
Because adding people adds meetings, and meetings are how projects die. We'd rather grow sideways (more tools, sharper processes) than upward into a pyramid.
Do you take equity? +
Occasionally, as part of a reduced cash rate, if the company is one we'd bet on anyway. Default is cash.
What about AI work? +
We use LLMs in the building and we've shipped LLM-assisted features. We will not sell you a chatbot that doesn't need to exist.
Where are you based? +
Temecula, CA and Kalaheo, HI. We work with clients across the US. On-site occasionally, remote mostly.
not sure which one you need? that's the first call.
things we shipped, things we own.
Client work and our own products. Grouped so you can tell who paid whom.
StacMarkit
A marketing platform bundling tools and services for small businesses growing their online presence.
Stacwork
Operations software for service businesses. Requests, quotes, scheduling, work, invoices, and payments in one daily control center. Run the day, keep the work moving.
Where's the Food
Track mobile food vendors nearby, get notified when they arrive. Good bones, looking for a new operator.
Coolie Hi
Verified profiles for young athletes: share highlights with parent approval, learn NIL fundamentals, and get guidance from a vetted mentor network of former and current pros, certified agents, and sports professionals. For minors, live mentor sessions are joined through the linked parent account.
TC Tiki Tours
Booking site and brochure for a Great Lakes tiki-boat company. Yes, really.
Ballard Allen
Rebuild for an automotive marketing agency. Faster, editable, cleaner.
Invoice Bacon
Invoicing for freelancers and small shops. Designed for people who'd rather not do accounting.
Her Village
A community platform for mothers. Mutual support, shared resources, meaningful connections. Heavy on trust, light on algorithm.
we're miles and o'brien.
We met writing code for other people's companies. Got tired of watching good ideas get bad implementations, so we started doing it ourselves in 2022.
O'Brien McQuade
Full-stack engineer obsessed with clean code and the craft of taking a messy business process and turning it into something a user can love. Runs point on client relationships and product direction.
Miles Inada
Full-stack engineer with a soft spot for hardware, networks, and the layers most people pretend don't exist. Runs point on architecture, infra, and the "but why is it slow" questions.
Small, focused, long-term teams make better software than big, busy, short-term ones.
Stacware exists because the usual agency math (account manager + project manager + three juniors + a subcontractor) produces software nobody is proud of. We picked a different constraint: two engineers, a short list of clients, long engagements, strong opinions. So far, it works.
We also mentor new devs, open-source the parts we can, and try to leave the local tech scene a little less lonely than we found it.
start a conversation.
Tell us what's going on. We read everything that lands in this inbox, and usually reply within a business day.
Email the humans.
The fastest path. Include context, timeline, and whatever you'd say on a first call.
- → what are you trying to ship?
- → what's the deadline (real one)?
- → what's already tried?
- → what happens if nothing changes?