Bring me the problem. I'll build what solves it.
I'm Shakeel Bhamani, a Staff Software Engineer with 10+ years of building software for Fortune 500 companies, startups and social-impact teams. New products, app rescues and tools that end the busywork, at a fixed scope and price. You talk to the person doing the work.
- shipping production software
- 10+ years
- apps live today
- 12+
- to build Tack
- <4 weeks
Problems I solve
Most people don't arrive with a spec. They arrive with a problem. These are the ones I hear most.
“I have an idea and no one to build it.”
I build the first version
From a rough sketch to a live product with real users, built so it can grow without a rewrite. Alaap started with one music teacher who had thousands of unnamed voice notes. Now he finds any recording from his phone.
See Alaap“Our app mostly works, and everyone is scared to touch it.”
I make it safe to change again
I learn the codebase before changing it, add the tests it is missing, fix what is fragile, and give you a straight answer on what to keep and what to replace. Greenfield, brownfield and legacy: I have worked in all three for over a decade.
My background“Our team runs on spreadsheets and copy-paste.”
I build the tool that does it for you
Internal systems that pull data from the services you already use and handle the repetitive work, so your people can stop doing it by hand. Bursar does a one-person company’s bookkeeping from its bank feeds and inbox.
See Bursar“We have a product, but shipping has stalled.”
I become your engineer
A prioritized backlog shipped continuously, production watched and fixed, and one person accountable for all of it. Month to month, no long-term contract.
How retainers workThe proof is the portfolio
A streaming platform, a searchable archive for a music teacher, a developer tool, twelve games and an open-source package. Different problems, one engineer.
Web platform
Prelive
Streaming SaaS for Twitch, YouTube and Kick creators
v6.40 in production · 2,100+ commits since Jan 2025
Mobile-first app
Alaap
Searchable voice-note library for a music teacher
Hindi, Urdu and English · Semantic search across scripts
Developer tool
Tack
Project tracker that runs from the terminal
Web app + command-line tool · Imports from Linear, Jira and GitHub
Games
VeryGoodMelon
Twelve web games built to calm you down
12 original games · No ads, no sign-up to play
Open source
Arr Suite MCP Server
Open-source home media integration, on PyPI
Published on PyPI · 8 stars, 8 forks on GitHub
Plus desktop apps, internal tools and automation.
See all the workHow a project runs
The same discipline I have used on enterprise teams for 10+ years, sized to your project. No surprises, no handoffs, no black box.
1. Understand
We start with the problem, not a feature list. I talk to the people who have it and work out what actually needs to exist.
2. Scope
You get it in writing: what gets built first, a fixed price, a delivery date and what done looks like.
3. Build
Working software on a live URL early, so you see progress instead of hearing about it. Every change is tested and reviewed before it ships.
4. Hand over
You own the code, the infrastructure and the docs. I can stay on to run it, or any competent engineer can take it from there.
Who you'll work with
Shakeel Bhamani, based in Atlanta. Ten-plus years of solving problems with software for a Fortune 500 retailer, Allstate, startups and social-impact platforms, from consulting at Thoughtworks to Staff Software Engineer. No account managers in between: you work with me.
- Staff Software Engineer
- Seven years at Thoughtworks
- Georgia Tech, B.S. Computer Science
- TEDx speaker
- 2017 American Beatbox Championships vice champion
Where to go from here
Investors
Back the studio
I'm raising a pre-seed round to go full-time. Everything in the portfolio was built with no team and no outside funding.
Start a conversationFounders and companies
Get a problem solved
Fixed-price product builds from $25,000, monthly retainers from $10,000, and equity hybrids for the right product.
See how it worksEngineers
Read the code
VeryGoodMelon, Prelive Deck, Unbottle and the Arr Suite integration are open source.
GitHubWhat people ask before hiring me
- What if I'm not sure exactly what I need?
- That is what the first call is for. Most people come with a problem, not a spec. I will help you work out what to build first, and sometimes the right answer is smaller than you expected.
- How do I know the software will hold up?
- Every change has to pass type-check, lint and automated tests, then a review, before it ships, and I make the architecture and release calls myself. It is the standard I have held on enterprise teams for over ten years. Prelive has run in production this way through 370+ releases.
- What happens if you are unavailable?
- You are not locked in. You own the source code, the infrastructure and the docs, and the test suite records how the product is meant to behave. Any competent engineer can pick it up without me.
- How long does a build take?
- It depends on scope, and the timeline is in the written scope before you commit to anything. As a reference point, Tack, a project tracker with a web app and a command-line tool, was built in under four weeks.
- Can I check your claims?
- Yes. Most products in the portfolio link to a live URL, a public repository or a published package. I will walk you through the private ones on a call.
Have a problem worth solving?
Tell me about it on a call. Afterwards I send a written scope with a fixed price and a timeline.