I help founders turn growth plans into product direction, the right team, and working software - and lead the changes alongside them.
I joined BookingSync, a property management system, as a senior engineer in January 2015. Two years later, I became its Chief Technology Officer. I helped rebrand and rebuild the company as Smily, becoming a co-founder and later its Chief Product and Technology Officer. Guesty acquired Smily in September 2026.
My responsibilities grew from the code and architecture into the whole product and engineering function: business priorities, product direction, budgets, hiring, people management and delivery. I have stayed hands-on through all these years.
Connecting business decisions to the work
I have worked on product and monetization decisions, engineering budgets, infrastructure spending and executive reporting. That means asking what a product should achieve for customers and the business, then connecting that goal to priorities and investment.
The work has also included product and technology due diligence for an acquisition: explaining the systems, the operating model and the risks under buyer scrutiny. It requires knowing how the organisation works in practice as well as how to describe it.
Building and leading teams
I have hired, managed and coached engineers, product managers and designers, developed responsibilities as people grew, and changed how teams were organised. Leading the function means setting direction, making trade-offs and giving people enough clarity and authority to do the work.
I also learned what happens when the organisation outgrows what the business can carry. We built a larger team, then had to rebuild it smaller through difficult reductions. The smaller team went on to deliver stronger results. That experience shapes how I assess hiring, ownership and what a team needs to succeed. It taught me that bigger teams don’t always lead to better results.
Staying close to the technology
I still write and review code, investigate production problems and make architecture decisions. My work has included distributed systems, event-driven architecture, payments processing, cybersecurity, infrastructure migrations and tools for using AI across applications.
I also work on how product and engineering (and the rest of the organization) use AI day to day, from investigating problems to implementation and review. I care about whether it improves the work and its results, and use evidence to question the assumptions - including my own.
How that experience helps you
A slow delivery problem might begin with unclear product choices, missing ownership, or a technical constraint. A hiring plan might be right, or it might leave the actual problem untouched. I can follow the problem across those boundaries and work with the people who need to resolve it.
I work with founders of growing product companies, from small teams to organisations of roughly 50 people across product and engineering.
The product and engineering assessment gives you an independent view and a clear plan. A separate ongoing engagement lets me lead agreed changes with you and your team, across product, people and technology. We define the scope and responsibilities around what your business needs.
See how we can work together →
Giving back
I contribute to open-source projects. I have also written a book and released it for free, spoken at conferences, and written for other blogs.
Get in touch
Start with a conversation
What do you want to move forward?
Tell me about your company or prototype, the decision you’re facing, and where you need help.
Book a 30-minute introductory conversation.
We’ll discuss the outcome you need, whether I can help, and the likely scope and fee.
Want to get in touch? Message me on LinkedIn.