About
Hi, I'm Stephan.
Your Trusted Advisor for IT.
I help founders and executives make better IT decisions — before they sign contracts, when something feels off, or when a vendor problem has been unresolved for too long.
Why I do this
I've been inside the failures.
After 15+ years building software — across startups, agencies and products — I kept seeing the same pattern. Projects fail not because developers are bad. They fail because the timeline was unrealistic from day one. The technology was the wrong choice. The contract had traps nobody noticed.
And the people making those decisions — founders, executives, business owners — had nobody on their side. Vendors wanted the deal. Agencies wanted the budget. Everyone had an agenda.
I decided to be the person who doesn't. I don't sell implementation. I don't have preferred vendors. I have one interest: helping you make the right decision.
That's what a trusted advisor is. That's what I am.
The pattern I kept seeing
Vendor says "3 months" → takes 9
"Fixed price" contract → full of change request traps
Technology chosen for the vendor's convenience, not the client's needs
Nobody on the client side who could ask the right questions
What I do about it
I review offers before you sign. I audit systems when something feels off. I solve vendor problems when nobody else is taking ownership. And I do all of it without any interest in selling you the next thing.
Background
Engineer. Product thinker.
Fully independent.
15+ years as a software engineer
I've built products from scratch, inherited legacy codebases, rescued failing projects and reviewed dozens of vendor proposals. I know what good looks like — and what the warning signs are.
Product engineer, not just a developer
I don't just ask if a vendor can build what they promised. I ask if it's the right thing to build at all. That's the product perspective most technical reviewers miss.
Independent — no implementation income
I don't earn from development projects, tool licences or vendor referrals. My business model is advice. That's the only way I can give you an honest one.
Certifications
Certified as an
Expert Witness & Assessor.
I am a certified expert witness and assessor — both in the German-speaking world and internationally. That means clear accountability, verifiable quality, and independent assessment.
Expert Witness (International)
Certified by DGuSV International
How I work
Solo. Direct. No layers.
I work independently. You talk to me — not to an account manager who relays your questions to a team you never meet. There are no handovers, no agency layers, no junior consultants doing the work while a senior signs off.
When I take on a project, I do the work. That means the assessment you receive reflects my actual analysis — not a template filled in by someone else.
Written assessments you can share with your stakeholders
Clear communication — I explain what I found in plain language
Fixed prices agreed before we start — no surprise invoices
I'll tell you if I'm not the right fit for your problem
What this looks like in practice
Fast to the point.
No filler.
Every assessment follows the same principle: each dimension gets a clear rating and a plain-language finding. No long preambles. No hedging. Just what I actually see — and what it means for your decision.
The speed comes from pattern recognition. After 15+ years across dozens of systems, most problems aren't new — they just appear in different codebases.
Audit Finding — Example
Phase 1 · OverviewArchitecture
Modern stack, clean separation of concerns. Solid foundation for further development.
Security
Credentials committed to the repository. No production-ready access controls. Immediate action required.
Delivery & CI/CD
Pipeline already in place. Deployment is automated and repeatable.
Vendor Dependency
All deployment knowledge held by one external party. No handover documentation. Single point of failure.
Cloud Readiness
Not configured for production scale. Works for current usage — needs preparation before growth.
Cost Efficiency
No unused services identified. Licence structure acceptable at current scale, review recommended at 2x volume.
Want to know if
we're a good fit?
Tell me your situation. 30 minutes, no pitch. I'll be straight with you about whether I can help.
Let's talk