I'm Bryce Watson. I build, fix and harden software for solo founders and teams of every size, at whatever stage you're in.
I spent 11 years at eBay, and right now I'm helping Akaya take their AI tool from prototype to production. You work with me directly, from the first call to the handover.
Tell me what you're working on. I'll reply with the simplest first step, before you pay anything. Prefer to talk first? Ask for a free 15-minute call.
Where are you now?
-
Prototype
Prototype, about to launch.
Start with a review: $400, written report in 2 business days that you can share with investors or a new hire. Built it with Lovable, Replit, Bolt or Cursor? Start here. Your builder's scan gives you a list; I tell you what actually matters for your launch and price each fix. Hand-built MVPs and internal tools fit too.
→ What the review covers -
Growing
Launched and growing.
Fixes, new features, performance, reliability, or adding AI to a product you already have. Each piece of work gets its own fixed price before I start. Heading into a raise or a first engineering hire? The review works here too, priced to your app's size.
→ Tell me what you need -
Established
Established, and you need another senior engineer.
I join your team and work through its issue tracker, pull requests, code review and automated checks. We agree on the work I'll own, and I quote per engagement after one conversation.
→ Tell me about your team
Before The prototype: it works
- 1User B can see user A's orders.
- 2Any signed-in user can reach the admin tools.
- 3Any visitor can run up your AI bill, with no cap.
- 4Failed payments are recorded nowhere.
After Ready for real users
- User B asks for user A's orders and gets an error.
- Admin tools only open for admins.
- AI use is capped.
- Failed payments are recorded, and you're told.
The kinds of problems a review looks for. Each fix gets a plain test you approve first.
See a sample report → An anonymised review of a public open-source Lovable app.
Proof
- Akaya, now
- From prototype to production: Akaya, now. I'm currently contracting with Akaya, who've agreed to be named as a reference: since March I've been helping take their AI knowledge tool from a desktop prototype to a cloud product piloting at Portland State University, building its production deploys, safe database migrations and privacy-safe logging, and fixing how its AI answers keep their sources.
- eBay, 2013 to 2024
- Production at scale: eBay, 2013 to 2024. I spent 11 years as a software engineer at eBay (2013 to 2024), where I rebuilt charity.ebay.com and shipped the item page's bidding-flow redesign and the Promoted Listings promote flow.
Details, if you're deciding
Open what you need.
The review
$400, written report in 2 business days, call included.
A written list of what could hurt you, what to fix first and a fixed price for each fix.
- Every finding ranked Critical, High, Medium or Low: where it is, what I saw, why it matters in plain words and how to fix it.
- A short answer at the top: can you put real users on this now, only after the must-fix items, or not yet? If I couldn't check something, the report says what and why.
- A 30-minute call to walk through it, included. You can share the report with investors or a new hire, and they're welcome on the call.
$400 for now; the price is locked when you book. If you hire me for the fixes within 14 days of the report, the $400 comes off their price.
What $400 covers: one app with one database, the kind a single builder project creates. If yours is bigger, I'll tell you the price before you pay anything. Built in a no-code tool without a code export, like Bubble? Tell me first and I'll say whether I can review it. The 2 business days start when I have the code and a test login.
What I'll ask you for: the code (read access to your GitHub repository, or an export from your builder) and a test login, ideally one ordinary user and one admin. Read-only access to your database and hosting settings helps but isn't required. If your database holds real customer or patient records, we set up a test copy instead, so I never see them. I'll send step-by-step instructions, and I never need live keys.
Already live? The report marks anything you should switch off or work around now, while the fixes happen.
See a sample report → An anonymised review of a public open-source Lovable app.
What I check
Seven areas, from security to code health.
I read your code and settings and test with accounts you set up for me. I don't attack your live app or touch real user data unless you've agreed in writing first.
B.1SecurityCovered
Secret keys in the code or sent to visitors' browsers. Database rules (in Supabase, row-level security) that let one user read or change another's data. Server code that trusts whatever the browser sends. Libraries with known security holes.
B.2Sign-in and accountsCovered
Sign-up, login, password reset and logout, and whether a user can reach records or admin tools that aren't theirs.
B.3Data and privacyCovered
What personal data the app collects, where it's stored, who can read it, which outside services get it, and whether you can delete it or restore from a backup.
B.4ReliabilityCovered
What happens when a payment, email or AI service fails or runs slowly, whether you'll see the errors, and whether orders can be lost or charged twice.
B.5DeploymentCovered
How a change reaches your live app, where keys are kept, how fast you can undo a bad release, and whether you could run the app without your builder.
B.6Cost risksCovered
Paid services any visitor can trigger with no cap, and plans that will bill you unexpectedly as you grow.
B.7Code healthCovered
How hard the code will be to change safely, and what's most likely to break next.
How deep each area goes depends on the access you give me, and the report says plainly what I couldn't check. It's a code and configuration review, not a penetration test, legal advice, a compliance certificate or a promise that the app has no bugs.
Fixes and new work
A fixed price before I start, and a test you approve.
Every piece of work gets a fixed price before I start, not an hourly meter.
- Before the fixWhen user B asks for user A's orders, they get them.Fails
- After the fixWhen user B asks for user A's orders, they get an error.Passes
- Each item comes with a plain test of what "fixed" or "done" means, for example "when user B asks for user A's orders, they get an error". You approve the tests first.
- If you built it with Lovable, Replit or Bolt, you keep building there afterwards: I make changes so they sync back, usually through its GitHub connection. If your builder can't take outside changes cleanly, I'll say so in the quote, before you pay.
- You get a handover note: what was done, what's still open and what to watch.
- Anything new gets its own short quote. I won't quietly grow the job or the bill.
Small builds, $200: a script, a spreadsheet automation, a browser extension or a connection between two tools you already use.
Guarantee
A full refund on the review if it wasn't worth it.
If the report is late, finds nothing you can act on, or you don't think it was worth what you paid, tell me within 7 days of delivery and I'll refund the review in full. If a fix fails its agreed test within 14 days of delivery, and nobody has changed that code since, I'll fix it again at no charge.
Questions
Builder scans, sensitive data, studios, and your code.
- My builder already runs a security scan. Why pay you?
- Run it; it'll catch some things. A scanner gives you a list. I add judgment on what matters for your app and your launch, confirm every finding myself and give you a fixed price to fix each one. In the sample report, the finding that looks scariest to a scanner mattered least, and the real risk was a database rule that depended on one dashboard setting.
- My app handles health or other personal data. Can you work on it?
- Yes. I work from test data, never real patient or customer records, and we'll agree how your data is handled before I start. I don't provide compliance certification. If you need me to sign a business associate agreement or another data agreement, send it first: I'll read it and tell you whether I can work under it.
- I run a studio or agency. Can you review client work?
- Yes. I can deliver the report unbranded and without my fix quote, so you price the fixes. I never contact your clients, and we can arrange pricing for repeat work.
- What happens to my code?
- I keep it confidential and I'll sign your NDA. I use AI coding tools (Claude Code and OpenAI Codex) with training on your code switched off. Your production database and your users' records never go into them, and I delete my copies of your code and data when we're done. Please send test keys, not live ones.
Tell me where you are.
Tell me what you're building, what's coming up (a launch, first customers, an investor demo) and where the code lives. Within 2 business days I'll reply with the simplest first step, or, for a review, confirm it fits the $400 price. If you'd rather talk first, say so and we'll set up a free 15-minute call. I'm in California and work US Pacific hours.
Thanks, it's on its way to me. I'll reply within 2 business days from [email protected]. If it's urgent, email me directly.
Working with health or other sensitive data? Tell me up front and we'll agree how it's handled before I start. I work from test data, not real records.