LanceTek is one person, on purpose
I am a software developer working from the UK. When you hire LanceTek, I am the one on the call, writing the code, and answering the phone if something breaks. There is no account manager and no junior handed your project after the sale.
How I work
I start with how the job is actually done, not with technology. Most of a first meeting is me asking why things happen the way they do, because the useful automation is usually hiding in the answer.
I build in small pieces you can use, and show you each one. If something turns out harder or easier than expected, you hear about it that week, along with what it means for the quote.
I prefer boring, well-understood tools. They are cheaper to run, easier to hand to another developer, and still around in ten years.
What you can count on
- A reply within two working days, usually sooner
- Fixed quotes, agreed in writing before work starts
- You own the code, the data and every account
- Plain English in every email and document
- An honest “you don’t need this” when that is the answer
- Limited capacity: I take on a small number of projects at a time
The stack
The tools I reach for first. Each one has a Journal entry explaining why, written for clients rather than developers.
- Python and TypeScript
- The two languages most of my client work is written in.
- PostgreSQL
- One reliable database for almost everything.
- Claude and other language models
- For agents that read, sort and draft, always with a human approval step.
- n8n
- Self-hosted workflow automation, so you are not billed per task.
- Docker
- Every app packaged the same way, so it moves between servers easily.
- Proxmox
- Virtual machines on ordinary hardware, for testing and for small-office servers.
- Tailscale
- Private remote access without opening ports to the internet.
- restic
- Encrypted backups to a second location, checked by regular test restores.
The homelab behind it
Before anything runs on your systems, it runs on mine. I keep a small rack of second-hand servers that mirrors the setups I install for clients: the same firewall, the same virtual machines, the same backup routine.
That means updates are tried here first, restores are rehearsed, and when I tell you a setup will survive a power cut, it is because I have pulled the plug on this one.
The diagram is a simplified, accurate picture of how it is wired.
Want to talk it through?
An hour on a call costs nothing, and you will come away with a clearer picture whether or not we work together.