About Us
We're product engineers who've been founders, first hires, and technical leads. We build software like it's our own company.
Our story
We started Variant Systems because we saw founders struggling with the same problem: they needed senior engineering help, but hiring takes forever and agencies don't care about outcomes.
We've been on both sides. We've built our own products and felt the frustration of not having enough engineering bandwidth. We've worked at companies where we were the first engineer, figuring everything out from scratch.
Now we help founders who are in that position. We become your engineering team — with all the ownership and care that implies — without the six months of hiring.
What we believe
Ownership over output
We don't just write code to spec. We think about your product, challenge assumptions, and make decisions like owners. When something breaks, it's our problem.
Simplicity wins
The best code is the code you don't write. We favor boring technology, simple solutions, and pragmatic trade-offs. Complexity is a last resort.
Speed matters
Startups live or die by how fast they can move. We work in tight cycles, ship constantly, and never let perfect be the enemy of good.
Honesty always
We'll tell you when an idea won't work, when you're overbuilding, or when you need something we can't provide. Trust requires honesty.
Experience
Over 10 years of building software across industries and stages. We've worked on:
- Early-stage startups where we were the entire engineering team
- Growth-stage companies scaling from thousands to millions of users
- Complex domains: healthcare, fintech, real-time systems
- Our own products, where every decision hits our own bottom line
Want to work together?
Tell us what you're building. We'll have a conversation — no pitch decks, no sales process.
Get in touch