Software Studio · Seattle

The software you keep meaning to build. Shipped by a studio that ships its own.

We take on a small number of defined-scope builds — and we run our own products in-house. The person who designs it writes the code, and stays to maintain it. No account managers, no fourteen-person overhead in your invoice.

Start a project →See how we work

// spec work + internal incubation// scope → build → ship → maintain// reply within 24 hours

Why this studio

Three things we do differently.

They’re the reason the work is fast, the bill is honest, and the code outlives the engagement.

Founder-built, not account-managed

No project manager. No account exec. No “we’ll loop you in.” When you email us, the person who writes your code replies. The whole chain is short on purpose.

Modern tooling, not headcount

A lean, modern stack and AI-assisted workflow compress the parts of agency work that quietly bloat a bill. Discovery is one doc and a call. Builds run in weeks, not quarters.

We ship our own products

We don’t only bill hours — we design, launch, and operate our own software. That means we make the owner’s tradeoffs on your build, not the contractor’s.

What we do

Two kinds of work, one bench.

Client builds pay the bills. Our own products keep us sharp. The same small team does both, which is exactly the point.

01 — Spec work

Defined-scope builds for clients

You have something specific that needs to exist. We scope it, build it, and hand it over — or stay on to run it. Fixed shape, clear deliverable, no open-ended retainer you have to argue your way out of.

MVPs & product v1s
Internal tools & dashboards
Marketing sites & landing pages
Data pipelines & automation
Rescue & maintenance of existing apps

02 — Internal incubation

Products we build for ourselves

Between client engagements, we incubate our own ideas — software we conceive, build, launch, and operate end to end. It’s our R&D budget and our proving ground at once.

Scope

One short doc, one call. We agree on the shape before a line is written.

Build

Tight loops, visible progress. You see it running, not described in a slide.

Ship

Deployed, documented, yours. Handover or hosting — your call.

Maintain

We stay on if you want us to. Same people, no re-learning curve.

The studio model

We don’t just build software. We run it.

Alongside client work, we incubate a rotating portfolio of our own products across software, local services, and consumer. We design them, ship them, and live with the consequences — the support tickets, the renewals, the things that break at 2am.

That’s not a side hobby. It’s why our client work is different: we’ve made the owner’s mistakes on our own dime, so we don’t make them on yours.

SaaS & web apps

Subscription tools we operate ourselves — billing, auth, support, the unglamorous parts that teach you how real products age.

Local & service businesses

Software-backed local ventures where we own the funnel end to end, from search to checkout to fulfillment.

Consumer & creative

Smaller bets across consumer products and creative tooling — fast to launch, cheap to learn from, occasionally a keeper.

Our story

From a quiet shoreline in Seattle.

We started on the eastern shore of Lake Union and named the studio for it — the houseboats, the morning fog, the rowing crews, the stretch of quiet between Gas Works and the freeway. That’s where it began.

We’ve since put down roots elsewhere in Seattle, but the name stuck — and so did the habit it came from. The city’s tech scene gave us the tools and the discipline to do this well — modern frameworks, smart automation, AI-assisted workflows. But the work itself isn’t tied to a place. We work where our clients are, and we build our own products from the same bench.

One studio. A short list of client builds. A handful of products we run ourselves. No project manager, no account exec — if you email, the person who writes the code answers.

Start a project

Tell us what you’re building.

A few sentences is plenty. We’ll reply within 24 hours with next steps — usually a short call and a one-page scope. If it’s not a fit, we’ll tell you that too.

// no spam
// no open-ended retainer
// we answer within 24 hours