DON'T PANIC — ADVISORY & ENGINEERING
Bespoke software, built to order.
Magrathea was the legendary planet whose finest artisans built luxury worlds to specification. Same idea, fewer fjords. I'm a full-stack engineer and ex-Head of Technology offering fractional CTO advisory and contract software development — with brain roughly the size of a planet.
“The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.”
DEEP THOUGHT
Second greatest computer in all of time and space. We aim higher.
THE SERVICE MENU
Custom-built like a Magrathean planet
Two ways to work together — plug in as an advisor, or bring me on to actually build the thing. Usually both.
Fractional CTO & Advisory
Architecture reviews, technical strategy, hiring and team leadership. The steady hand for founders staring into the infinite improbability of scale.
“Here I am, brain the size of a planet.”
Full-stack Product Engineering
From zero to shipped. Feature work, greenfield builds and rescue missions on codebases that have widely been regarded as a bad move.
“In the beginning the Universe was created…”
Backend & API Systems
Deep backend expertise in Node.js, GraphQL and TypeScript. Reliable services and clean contracts that hang together far better than bricks.
“The ships hung in the sky… much the way bricks don’t.”
RAG & Eval Infrastructure
Hands-on retrieval pipelines and evaluation harnesses. Because an answer of 42 is worthless until you’ve rigorously checked the question.
“The Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything.”
THE FACTORY FLOOR
The tools I build worlds with
Deep backend roots, modern AI infrastructure, and the judgment to know which problem is actually the problem.
Node.js
Runtime of choice
TypeScript
Types as gravity
GraphQL
Clean contracts
RAG pipelines
Retrieval that retrieves
Eval harnesses
Proof, not vibes
System design
Planet-scale plumbing
THE ULTIMATE QUESTION
Deep Thought computed for 7½ million years to answer everything.
The catch? Nobody ever figured out what the actual question was. Most software projects have the exact same bug — heroic effort spent answering something no one bothered to define. My job is to find the right question before you spend 7½ million years building the wrong answer.
“I'd far rather be happy than right any day.”
THE INFINITE IMPROBABILITY DRIVE
How the work actually happens
A sequence improbable enough to work, reliable enough to bet a roadmap on.
- 01
Interrogate
We pin down the real question. Constraints, users, the thing that’s actually on fire.
- 02
Architect
A pragmatic plan and a shape for the system — chosen for your reality, not a conference talk.
- 03
Build
Shipping working software in tight loops. Node.js, TypeScript, GraphQL, and AI where it earns its place.
- 04
Evaluate
Evals, telemetry and honest measurement — so we know the answer is right, not just impressive.
FIELD NOTES FROM THE GUIDE
Hard-won wisdom, lightly plagiarized
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”
“Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?”
“A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.”
“The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.”
“We apologize for the inconvenience.”
“Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
SHARE AND ENJOY
Got a planet that needs building?
Whether it's advisory, a full build, or an AI system that needs evals it can trust — bring me the question. No towel required.
hello@magratheastudio.com“So long, and thanks for all the fish.”