I build web applications and the systems behind them, from the interfaces people use every day to the APIs, data, and infrastructure that keep everything running. That might mean building something new, adding an important feature to an existing application, or untangling a system that’s become difficult to maintain.
Every project is different, so I don’t begin with a predetermined technical solution. We’ll start with what you’re trying to accomplish, figure out what the software actually needs to do, and build from there.
Development Services
- Frontend Development
- Backend Development
- Web Applications
- Cloud Architecture
- Content Management Systems
- Websites
Build the important things first.
I like to break larger projects into useful, manageable pieces rather than disappearing for months and returning with a finished application. It gives us opportunities to test assumptions, see what’s working, and adjust as we learn more.
You’ll be able to see the project taking shape along the way. Priorities can change, ideas can improve, and we can make decisions based on something real rather than trying to predict everything before development begins.
Frontend Development
The frontend is where your software meets the people using it. I build responsive, accessible interfaces that make information easy to understand and workflows easy to navigate—even when there’s a lot happening behind the scenes.
With nearly two decades of experience spanning frontend engineering and interactive design, I’m comfortable working from an existing design, collaborating on one, or helping figure out the experience as we build. The goal is the same: an interface that looks good, performs well, and makes sense to the people using it.
Backend Development
A good frontend needs something dependable behind it. I build APIs, services, data layers, and application logic designed to keep information moving reliably between users, applications, and the systems they depend on.
Whether I’m extending an existing backend or building something new, I favor proven frameworks and straightforward architecture over unnecessary complexity. The result should be secure, maintainable, and capable of growing with the application—not something that becomes harder to work with every time a feature is added.
Web Applications
I build web applications that do far more than present information. They manage workflows, visualize complex data, connect to APIs, respond to users in real time, and provide the kinds of experiences people once expected only from desktop software.
From focused internal tools to larger single-page applications, I think about the entire system: interface, state, data, APIs, performance, accessibility, and maintainability. Whether we’re modernizing something that already exists or starting fresh, the goal is software that feels simple to use even when the problem behind it isn’t.
Cloud Architecture
Deploying an application is more than finding somewhere to run it. Servers, databases, storage, networking, security, scaling, monitoring, and cost all become part of the system once software leaves the development environment.
I’ve spent more than a decade working with AWS and cloud infrastructure, from individual services to complete application environments. I focus on choosing the infrastructure the application actually needs—reliable enough to depend on, flexible enough to grow, and without paying for complexity that doesn’t provide real value.
Content Management Systems
A good content management system should make publishing and maintaining a website easier, not introduce another complicated system to manage. I work extensively with WordPress, including custom themes, plugins, content structures, and integrations built around the needs of a particular site.
I’ve also built custom content-management solutions when an off-the-shelf CMS wasn’t the right fit. The decision starts with how the content needs to be managed and who will be managing it, then we choose—or build—the simplest solution that supports those needs well.
Websites
Not every project needs a web application. Sometimes what you need is a well-designed website that communicates clearly, loads quickly, works beautifully across devices, and makes it easy for people to find what they’re looking for.
I’ve built everything from focused landing pages and portfolios to larger business and marketing sites. I favor clean, semantic code and lightweight solutions that keep performance, accessibility, search visibility, security, and long-term maintenance in mind.
Dream Stack
- Angular
- NestJS
- AWS
- State Management
- UI Kits
The tools I'd happily reach for tomorrow.
I’ve worked with a lot of technologies over the years, but these are some of the ones I particularly enjoy building with. They’re mature, capable, and well suited to the kinds of applications I tend to build.
That doesn’t mean every project gets the same stack. Technology should fit the problem—not the other way around. If an existing application uses something different, or another tool is clearly the better choice, I’m comfortable adapting.
Angular
I’ve been working with Angular since the early Angular 2 betas, and it has remained at the center of much of my frontend work ever since. I like the structure it brings to larger applications: components, dependency injection, routing, forms, testing, and application architecture all have a clear place without requiring a collection of unrelated libraries to hold everything together.
That structure makes Angular especially well suited to the kinds of applications I enjoy building—software with complex interfaces, substantial business logic, and features that need to remain understandable as the application grows. After working with it for so long, I can spend less time thinking about the framework and more time thinking about the problem we’re trying to solve.
NestJS
NestJS is one of my favorite ways to build Node.js backends, particularly when I’m already working with Angular. Its modules, dependency injection, decorators, and TypeScript-first approach create many of the same architectural patterns on both sides of the application.
More importantly, NestJS gives backend code enough structure to remain understandable as an application grows. APIs, business logic, authentication, data access, and integrations can each have clear responsibilities without turning the backend into a collection of loosely organized routes and services.
AWS
I’ve worked with AWS for more than a decade, using services such as EC2, ECS, Lambda, S3, and related infrastructure to deploy and support production applications. What I value most about AWS isn’t the sheer number of services available—it’s the ability to choose the pieces that make sense for a particular application.
I also use automation and Infrastructure as Code where appropriate so environments can be reproduced and deployments don’t depend on someone remembering a list of manual steps. The goal is infrastructure that’s reliable, understandable, and appropriately sized for the application rather than cloud architecture that’s complicated simply because it can be.
State Management
For applications with substantial shared state, NgRx is currently my preferred approach. I like its explicit data flow, strong tooling, and the visibility it provides into how state changes throughout an application. The newer Signal Store approach also fits naturally with modern Angular and provides useful options for managing state without requiring every application to adopt the same level of ceremony.
I’ve also worked extensively with NGXS and still appreciate its straightforward approach to actions, selectors, and state. I don’t believe every application needs a state-management library at all, though. The choice depends on the complexity of the state we’re managing and whether introducing another abstraction actually makes the application easier to understand.
UI Kits
PrimeNG and Tailwind solve two different problems particularly well. PrimeNG provides the complex, production-ready components that applications frequently need—tables, dialogs, forms, menus, and other interaction patterns—while Tailwind gives me fine-grained control over layout, spacing, responsiveness, and the surrounding design system.
Together, they let me spend less time rebuilding common interface behavior and more time designing the parts of the experience that are unique to the application. The result is faster development without giving up the ability to create an interface that feels intentional rather than assembled from stock components.
Back Pocket
- Node.js
- PHP
- TypeScript
- WordPress
- WordPress / UI
- React
More tools I've picked up along the way.
Nearly two decades of development have left me with a pretty well-stocked toolbox. These are technologies I’ve worked with, built with, or still reach for when they’re the right fit.
I don’t need every project to use my favorite tools. Sometimes the best solution means working within an existing stack, learning something new, or reaching back for technology I’ve used before. The goal isn’t to build with my stack. It’s to build what makes sense for yours.
Node.js
I’ve been building backends with Node.js for more than a decade, from straightforward APIs to services supporting larger, more complex applications. Its lightweight model and enormous ecosystem make it useful for everything from small services to substantial application backends.
Today I often pair Node.js with a structured framework like NestJS, but I’m equally comfortable working closer to the platform when that’s appropriate. Whether I’m extending an existing Node application or building something new, I focus on keeping the backend understandable, maintainable, and suited to the job it needs to do.
PHP
PHP was my primary backend language for much of my earlier career, and I spent nearly a decade building applications with it before Node.js became my usual choice. I’ve worked with PHP directly as well as frameworks such as Laravel and Yii, building everything from application backends to APIs and content-management systems.
I may not reach for PHP first when starting a new application today, but there’s an enormous amount of useful software built with it. That experience means I’m comfortable maintaining, modernizing, or extending an existing PHP application rather than assuming something needs to be rewritten simply because it uses an older stack.
TypeScript
TypeScript has become a fundamental part of how I build modern JavaScript applications. Strong typing makes relationships between data, APIs, state, and application logic explicit, which catches problems earlier and makes larger codebases considerably easier to understand and change.
I use TypeScript extensively with Angular, NestJS, Node.js, and shared application models. I particularly value it when frontend and backend systems can share clearly defined contracts, giving both sides of an application a common understanding of the data moving between them.
WordPress
I’ve worked with WordPress for years, building and maintaining websites as well as developing custom themes and plugins when the standard experience doesn’t quite fit the project.
What keeps WordPress useful is that it can be as simple or as customized as the project requires. A client can still have a familiar interface for managing content while the theme, blocks, plugins, and underlying experience are tailored to what the site actually needs.
WordPress / UI
When a WordPress project needs more than a conventional theme, I’m comfortable working throughout the frontend stack. I’ve used Bootstrap and Sass extensively for responsive layouts and design systems, along with JavaScript and jQuery for custom interactions, AJAX-driven features, and plugin or theme behavior.
For more complex, application-like features, I’ve even integrated Angular into WordPress projects, allowing a focused part of the site to benefit from Angular’s component architecture and state management without turning the entire website into an Angular application.
I don’t introduce these tools simply because I’ve used them before. Modern WordPress provides better native options for many things that once required custom JavaScript or jQuery, so I use what’s appropriate for the project. Sometimes that means native WordPress; sometimes it means a little JavaScript; and occasionally a feature is complex enough to justify something more powerful.
React
Angular is where most of my production frontend experience lives, but I’ve also worked with React and understand its component model, hooks, state, and the broader patterns behind modern React applications.
I wouldn’t represent React as one of my deepest specialties, but I’m comfortable working with it and ramping up when a project calls for it. Years of building component-driven applications also mean the underlying problems—state, data flow, reusable interfaces, APIs, performance, and usability—are very familiar even when the framework changes.
Design
Good software isn’t finished when it works. People need to understand it, navigate it, and feel confident using it.
I approach design and development as parts of the same problem. Whether we’re starting from scratch or improving something that already exists, we’ll think through how information should be organized, how people will move through the application, and what the experience needs to communicate. The goal isn’t decoration—it’s making the software easier and more enjoyable to use.
Design Services
- UX/UI Design
- Graphic Design
UX/UI Design
A good interface should help people understand what they’re looking at and make the next step feel obvious. I think about hierarchy, navigation, interaction, responsiveness, accessibility, and all the small decisions that determine whether software feels intuitive or frustrating.
This is especially important for applications dealing with complex information. Sometimes the real design challenge isn’t making something beautiful—it’s finding a way to present a complicated system so that it feels simple.
Graphic Design
My background in design extends beyond software interfaces. Over the years, I’ve created logos, branding elements, marketing materials, print layouts, and other visual assets where the same principles I bring to UI design—hierarchy, balance, consistency, and clarity—still apply.
I tend to favor simple, purposeful design over unnecessary decoration. Whether I’m working on an interface or a standalone graphic, I want the result to communicate clearly, feel intentional, and remain effective wherever it’s used.
Digital Architecture
- Application Architecture
- Wireframes
- Digital Style Guide
Designing before we build.
Some of the most important design decisions happen before there’s anything polished to look at. Wireframes, prototypes, information architecture, and interaction planning let us explore how something should work before we spend time building it.
This is where design and development begin to overlap. We can identify awkward workflows, missing information, unnecessary complexity, and technical considerations early—when they’re still inexpensive to change.
The result isn’t just a prettier application. It’s a clearer plan for building the right one.
Application Architecture
A good application architecture gives us a shared picture of how the pieces fit together before development gets complicated. I use diagrams and other visual documentation to map data flow, application components, integrations, and important relationships so we can identify unanswered questions and potential problems early.
I treat that documentation as a living part of the project rather than something created once and forgotten. As the application evolves, the architecture can evolve with it—and the final version becomes useful documentation for anyone who needs to understand, maintain, or extend the system later.
Wireframes
Wireframes let us explore an application before investing time in polished design or development. They help establish what belongs on each screen, how people move through the application, what information matters most, and whether the overall workflow actually makes sense.
They also give us something concrete to react to. It’s much easier to discover that a workflow feels awkward, a feature is missing, or an assumption was wrong while we’re looking at a wireframe than after the feature has been built. The goal isn’t to predict everything perfectly—it’s to learn earlier, when changes are still easy to make.
Digital Style Guide
A digital style guide defines the visual building blocks of an application—typography, colors, spacing, buttons, forms, components, and the other patterns that appear throughout the interface. Instead of making the same design decisions over and over, we establish them once and use them consistently.
I particularly like style guides that live alongside the application and can evolve with it. They give designers and developers a shared reference, make new features faster to build, and help ensure the application still feels like one cohesive product as it grows.
Let’s figure out what you need.
Not sure whether you need development, design, architecture, or a little of each? That’s completely fine. Tell me what you’re trying to build, improve, or solve, and we can start there.
Use the form below to tell me a little about your project, or reach me directly at mitchell@betavc.com. I’ll help you make sense of the options and figure out a practical way forward—whether that means working together or simply pointing you in the right direction.