What I’m shipping right now
Abundera is a financial advocacy platform I built solo: one identity core running 20+ live applications. A QR safety family (qr.abundera.ai, check.qr.abundera.ai, pro.qr.abundera.ai), e-signatures (sign.abundera.ai), the advocacy core (abundera.ai), and fourteen vertical advocacy sites. It runs on the Cloudflare edge, passkey-only, connected to Plaid.
Funded. The raise took weeks because the product was already running.
Forty-five years of pattern recognition is worth what it pays for this week, not in 2005. The stack you’re paying me to assess is one I shipped code on this week.
Reality Check
A 90-minute deep-dive on the decision you’re facing, followed by a written assessment within 48 hours. The entry point for everything else, and often the whole engagement.
What you get
- A 90-minute working call. I read your materials in advance and come ready to push, not be briefed.
- An 8–12 page written assessment covering the decision or risk you’re facing, the questions I’d push you on, a go/no-go with reasoning, and what a follow-on engagement would look like if you proceed.
- The deliverable is yours. Use it however you want, whether or not we work together again.
If after a 15-minute intro I’m the wrong person for your problem, I won’t bill you.
Book a Reality CheckEngagement
Architecture review, voice AI / ASR system review, or a scoped technical rescue. Five to ten business days. Scope and price fixed during the Reality Check.
Best fit
- A production architecture you’re about to commit to, or one you’re drowning in
- A voice product where the demo works and the field deployment doesn’t
- A pre-Series B or pre-acquisition technical readiness pass
What you get
- Code, infrastructure, and team interviews
- Written report with prioritized findings and a remediation plan
- Two-hour live review with your team
- One round of written follow-up Q&A within 30 days of delivery
Typical engagement: $50,000–$150,000 depending on scope. Scoped during the Reality Check.
Start with a Reality CheckTechnical Due Diligence
Pre-acquisition or pre-investment technical review. A defensible written report for your investment committee, board, or LP. For buyers who need more than the vendor’s slide deck.
What you get
- Codebase, infrastructure, security posture, and team review against my 110-check diligence list
- Written report with risk-tiered findings, remediation cost estimates, and a hold/proceed recommendation
- One-hour live debrief with your investment committee or deal team
- Email Q&A through close
Typical engagement: $75,000–$250,000 depending on target size and depth. Scoped during the Reality Check.
Start with a Reality CheckWhat I don’t take
Junior-rate code work. “Digital transformation” engagements that are really change management. Vendor-paid due diligence. Briefs written to validate a decision already made. Anything where the deliverable is a slide deck and not a working system or a written technical opinion. If you’re looking for any of those, I’m the wrong call and I’ll tell you so without billing.
Common questions
What is a Reality Check?
A 90-minute deep-dive on one specific decision (architecture, vendor, hire, pivot, fundraise), followed by an 8 to 12 page written assessment delivered within 48 hours. Fixed fee: $15,000.
What does an engagement cost?
A Reality Check is $15,000 fixed. An Engagement starts at $50,000 and typically runs $50,000 to $150,000 depending on scope. A Technical Due Diligence starts at $75,000 and typically runs $75,000 to $250,000 depending on target size and depth. Every price is fixed before we start; there is no meter.
How do you decide who you take on?
I take two Reality Check slots per quarter, so I look for problems where the scar tissue pays for itself: production systems that have outgrown the people who built them, voice AI that works in the demo but breaks in the field, architecture decisions that need a second pair of eyes before the CFO signs, diligence that has to go past the vendor's slide deck. If after a 15-minute intro I’m the wrong person for your problem, I’ll say so and I won’t bill you.
Do you take retainers or equity?
No retainers. No equity. Each engagement has a fixed scope and a fixed fee, paid 50% on start and 50% on delivery.
What do you need from me to start?
Whatever exists. Architecture docs, the vendor proposal, the deck, the numbers. I read it all in advance and come ready to push, not be briefed. A concrete question gets a sharper answer than a polished presentation.
What happens after the Reality Check?
The written assessment ends with a go/no-go with reasoning and what a follow-on would look like if you proceed. If we keep going, we scope an Engagement or a Technical Due Diligence from there. Often the Reality Check is the whole engagement.
Do you sign NDAs?
Yes. Most of my past work is under NDA, which is why the Work page names only what it names. Your NDA gets signed before I see a line of code.
Who owns the report?
You do. The deliverable is yours to use however you want, whether or not we work together again. Due diligence reports are written to be handed to your investment committee, board, or LP.
What engagements won’t you take?
Junior-rate code work. “Digital transformation” engagements that are really change management. Vendor-paid due diligence. Briefs written to validate a decision already made. Anything where the deliverable is a slide deck and not a working system or a written technical opinion.
What does a Technical Due Diligence include?
Pre-acquisition or pre-investment technical review. Code quality, architecture defensibility, team capability, key-person risk, and a defensible written report for the investment committee, board, or LP. From $75,000.
How this works
Send the contact form; I reply within two business days. We start with a 15-minute fit call: if I’m the wrong person for your problem, I’ll say so and point you elsewhere, and you won’t be billed. If we’re a go, the Reality Check is the entry point for everything else, and we scope any follow-on from there.