Consulting services

Senior technical judgement for products that cross hardware, software, payments and operations.

I work best on systems where software alone is not enough: machines, sensors, payment flows, databases, deployment, customer behaviour and diagnostics all affect the result.

Technical auditRescue sprintPrototype to productionFractional product engineerStripe ConnectEmbedded Linux

Where I can create leverage.

Clear, practical help for companies with products that are already complicated enough without organisational fog.

Architecture

System design and review

  • Payment architecture and Stripe Connect flow review
  • Embedded Linux/Raspberry Pi deployment patterns
  • Database and API design for operational systems
  • Security, logging, failure modes and observability
Build

Prototype to production

  • Python services and machine controllers
  • PHP/LAMP/WordPress business portals
  • Mobile-to-hardware BLE or QR workflows
  • Admin dashboards, reports and recovery tools
Rescue

Fix unreliable systems

  • Untangle fragile scripts and service runners
  • Diagnose field device failures from logs and behaviour
  • Repair broken payment flows or reconciliation gaps
  • Create maintainable handover documentation

Engagement models.

Small enough to start quickly. Serious enough to produce useful output.

2–5 days

Technical audit

Review the product, codebase, payment flow, machine behaviour and deployment assumptions. Output: risks, quick wins, architectural findings and a practical next-action plan.

2–6 weeks

Prototype or recovery sprint

Build a working proof, rescue a failing integration, stabilise the stack or create service tools for field support and operational visibility.

Ongoing

Fractional product engineer

Support a founder, CTO or product team with cross-discipline technical judgement across hardware, software, data, payments and support operations.

Good-fit problems

Send the difficult version.

The useful details are usually in the awkward parts: intermittent failures, support complaints, half-finished integrations, awkward payment edge cases and field devices behaving differently than expected.

Good fitConnected machines, payment systems, kiosks, Raspberry Pi deployments, SaaS portals, operator dashboards and field diagnostics.
Less good fitPure design-only work, generic brochure websites, or projects where nobody wants to look at the operational truth.
First stepEmail a short description, existing stack, current pain, commercial impact and what a successful outcome would look like.

Start with the messy version.

A clean brief is useful. A messy real-world problem is often more honest. Send what you have.

Email: me@mikegraham.info
Email :mike graham