Engineering ownership for difficult software systems.
Stonewasp partners with founders and engineering teams to architect, build, stabilize, and scale production software with direct technical accountability.
We take end-to-end responsibility for the systems that matter most.
What kind of engineering problem are you dealing with?
We organize around specific architectural problems requiring end-to-end technical ownership.
Something technically difficult
You have a product idea that requires serious engineering — complex state management, multiple client surfaces, financial invariants, or tight performance constraints.
Without disciplined architecture and strict data contracts, the product stalls at prototype quality or fails under production load.
Architecture decisions need to be made under real constraints. The system needs to handle concurrency, persistence, and failure modes correctly from day one.
A system that is becoming unreliable
Your production system is failing intermittently. Releases are risky. The team fears deploying changes. A previous vendor or contractor left technical debt that is now blocking progress.
Every week of instability narrows your options. Customer trust erodes. The team spends more time firefighting than building.
The codebase has accumulated coupling, missing test safety nets, and undocumented assumptions that make every change a gamble.
Architecture approaching its limits
Growth has exposed the ceiling of your current architecture. Latency is climbing. Costs are ballooning. The database can't keep up. Users are experiencing slowdowns.
Revenue is constrained by technical capacity. Every new customer increases cost and risk disproportionately.
The infrastructure needs structural intervention: query optimization, connection pooling, edge caching, and distributed data routing.
A critical system needing architectural direction
Technical decisions are compounding without formal evaluation. Architecture reviews are overdue, system boundaries are blurred, and core technology choices are being made without evaluating failure modes.
Wrong architectural decisions compound silently. By the time the cost is visible, it's expensive to fix.
The system needs written architectural specifications (RFCs), explicit domain boundaries, and direct ownership of technical direction.
Why Stonewasp
What clients get when they work with us.
Direct Engineering Ownership
The engineers who architect your system write the code and review pull requests. No hand-offs to external contractor pools, no intermediary account layers.
Small Number of Engagements
We take fewer clients and give each one the focused attention a difficult system requires. Quality over volume.
Architecture Into Implementation
We design the system and build it. No gap between strategy and execution. No finger-pointing between teams.
Async-First Execution
Written RFCs, inspectable changes, CI-provided feedback. Meetings only when they create genuine value.
Clear Deliverable Ownership
Clients own the application code, schemas, and configurations created for their engagement. Stonewasp retains reusable underlying foundations, with no proprietary vendor lock-in.
Engineering Evidence
Real architecture diagrams, real outcomes, real technical decisions. Not marketing claims.
Engineering Evidence
Real systems, real architecture, real outcomes. One client engagement, fully documented.
Regulated Fintech & Multi-Platform Chitfund Auction Platform
End-to-end financial transaction platform: web portal, two native mobile applications, state-machine backend, and automated ledger settlement engine.
Unified 3 client surfaces (Web, Subscriber iOS/Android, Agent App) on a single deterministic API.
Zero-drift double-entry ledger state machine with strict ACID transactional invariants.
Sub-150ms auction bidding cycle processing under concurrent real-time subscriber loads.
How We Work
A disciplined engineering operating model. Every engagement follows this sequence.
Discover
Technical & domain discoveryWe audit existing codebases, clarify core business constraints, analyze failure modes, and define deterministic success metrics.
Architect
Written specifications & RFCsEvery significant design decision is written down. We produce system topologies, state machines, API schemas, and data model contracts.
Build
High-velocity test-backed sprintsWe construct the core system with full test harnesses, automated linters, type safety, and CI-provided feedback loops.
Validate
Automated & rigorous QAWe stress-test edge cases, verify failure recovery, audit query latency, and perform strict end-to-end user-journey verification.
Operate
Observability and ongoing ownershipComplete trace telemetry, structured alerting, documentation handover, and seamless transition into ongoing engineering retainers.
Engagement Model
You don't have to make a big commitment before we understand the problem. Start with focused discovery and expand based on demonstrated value.
Technical Triage
1–2 daysTechnical Triage
1–2 daysWe assess whether Stonewasp is the right fit for your problem. Quick, honest, no commitment.
Get clarity on your technical situation before investing further.
Triage AssessmentDiscovery
1–2 weeksDiscovery
1–2 weeksDeep audit of code, architecture, constraints, and failure modes. Written RFC with execution plan.
Understand exactly what needs to happen and why, before building begins.
Architecture RFCFixed-Scope Engineering
4–8 weeksFixed-Scope Engineering
4–8 weeksMilestone-based delivery with automated quality gates, preview environments, and weekly written demos.
Predictable timeline and budget with continuous visibility into progress.
Production SystemContinuous Engineering
OngoingContinuous Engineering
OngoingEngineering retainers for roadmap evolution, platform scaling, and architectural support.
Maintain ongoing technical ownership and architectural momentum without the overhead of hiring an entire internal team.
Engineering RetainerEngineering Ownership
We organize around concrete engineering problems, not generic technology menus.
Product Engineering
Building something technically difficult from discovery to production.
Full-stack TypeScript, mobile native, API design, database architecture, CI/CD, cloud deployment.
Software Rescue & Stabilization
A critical project has stalled or the codebase is failing.
Architecture recovery, debt auditing, performance stabilization, release cadence restoration.
Infrastructure & Cloud Systems
Your architecture is starting to hit its limits.
Edge runtimes, distributed databases, zero-downtime deploys, observability pipelines.
Architecture & Advisory
Your system needs explicit architectural direction and boundary definitions.
RFC authoring, system design blueprints, vendor audits, fractional CTO guidance.
AI & Agent Systems
You need reliable agentic or AI systems built with engineering discipline.
Deterministic agent loops, type-safe tool interfaces, RAG pipelines, token governance.
High-velocity engineering without meeting dependency
Our async-first operating model produces better decisions, clearer documentation, and inspectable progress — without scheduling overhead.
Written specification for every significant decision
Explicit trade-off analysis and approval
Focused build with test harnesses
Automated quality gates on every push
Human verification before production
Zero-downtime production release
Async written demo and progress brief
Async-first means fewer meetings and less scheduling overhead
Written RFCs create inspectable decision records
Continuous progress briefs replace status meetings
Every change is traceable from spec to deployment
Engineering Insights
Technical writing on architecture, systems, and engineering execution.
Questions
What makes Stonewasp different from traditional software agencies?
Traditional agencies sell billable hours, hand off projects to detached developer pools, and profit from scope inflation. Stonewasp combines reusable engineering foundations with direct technical accountability, written RFCs, and clear client ownership of deliverable software.
How do engagements work commercially?
Most partnerships start with a focused Technical Discovery, followed by a fixed-scope Build Sprint. We scope around technical outcomes, not hours. Following launch, clients can transition to continuous engineering for ongoing work.
Do you work with international clients?
Yes. Stonewasp is global-first. Our async engineering model is designed for distributed collaboration across time zones.
Who owns the code and IP?
Clients get full ownership of the client-specific software, schemas, repositories, and configurations created for them. Stonewasp retains its underlying reusable technology foundations and know-how, while third-party dependencies remain subject to their respective open-source licenses. Everything is committed directly to your version control.
Send us the engineering problem.
Tell us what's being built, what's failing, or what's blocking the team. We'll assess whether Stonewasp is a fit.
Typical response within 24 hours. Confidentiality respected.