A written report on what your software actually stands on: the codebase, the infrastructure, and what happens on a bad day. Often the first week of a bigger job. Sometimes the report is the job.
I read it. Structure, dependencies, the parts everyone is scared to touch, and whether the next hire could find their way around. Not a linting report: an honest read from someone who has shipped and maintained platforms for twenty years.
How work actually ships: branches, reviews, releases, and what happens if a laptop dies tonight. If the history can’t tell the story of the product, that’s a finding.
What it runs on, who set it up, and whether anyone still knows how. Capacity, cost, and the single points of failure nobody wrote down.
Where they go, how often, and whether anyone has ever restored one. A backup that has never been restored is a rumour, not a backup.
The bad day, rehearsed on paper: what breaks, who does what, how long you’re down and what that costs. Written before it’s needed, because during is too late.
Estimates, reviews, releases, the bus factor. Not to grade anyone: to see where direction is missing and where one change buys real speed.
Plain English up front for the board, technical detail attached for the team. Findings in priority order: what’s solid, what’s fragile, what to fix first, and what it costs to ignore. If the stack is fine, the report says so. There’s nothing to sell you at the end of it.
A call first. What’s worrying you, what access looks like, what the report needs to answer.
Then the review. Read-only access. Days, not weeks.
Then the report, walked through with you, and with your team or your board if you want them in the room.
Founders who can’t see into their own systems. Boards and investors who need an honest picture before the next decision. Teams who inherited something and want to know how deep the water is. Operators about to bet the business on a platform.
The Stack Check is the operator version: ten questions on your phone, two minutes, an immediate read on what’s not talking to what.
Tell me what you’re building and what’s keeping you up at night. If I can’t help, I’ll say so on the call and point you at someone who can.