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Jason Wallace

Software developer for hire

A short, honest Q&A about who I am and how I work.

👋 Hi, I'm Jason Wallace, a senior full-stack software developer based in Cape Town, South Africa (UTC+2). Let me answer a few questions you might have 👇

Why should I hire you full-time?

You can't, sorry 😅. I'm currently focusing on building my own software products to sell online.

Oh okay, so why does this page exist?

Because entrepreneurship is difficult and unpredictable, but that's where we can help each other out.

I spend about half my time building my own software products and the other half as a freelancer, building software for others. That way I get to balance the risk of entrepreneurship with the income from freelancing.

I see, so why should I hire you as a freelancer then?

Now we're talking!

Firstly, I love building software. Not just for myself, but for people across widely different domains, from hardware devices to telephony platforms. I can't help getting deeply invested in making the software I write (or that AI writes) both beautiful and useful.

Secondly, entrepreneurship has taught me that software is a means to an end (i.e., software itself isn't valuable) and it's only as valuable as the problems it solves. So if you need help solving problems, let's chat.

And thirdly, my wife and infant child would greatly appreciate it 😁.

Interesting! What kind of experience do you have?

These are the products I've built over the years (i.e., the entrepreneurial half of my time I mentioned earlier).

These are some of the freelance clients I've worked for:

  • TinyPilot (2021–2026): An open-source KVM over IP hardware device.

    This was an ongoing project where I was one of three full-stack developers architecting, building, documenting, and maintaining the device's software.

  • World Agroforestry (ICRAF) (2019–2020): A global research initiative focused on climate-smart agricultural practices.

    A one-off project where I was one of two full-stack developers building a web app that parses data from peer-reviewed scientific studies and allows users to explore the aggregated data to make agricultural decisions.

  • Particl (2017–2018): A decentralized two-sided marketplace.

    I worked mainly on the frontend of their marketplace web UI, not the crypto side, but they paid me in Bitcoin anyway 🤑.

  • Nutrition Hub (2014–2015): An animal nutritionist consultancy.

    This was an existing project that I took over and expanded: a web app that formulated dog food based on a target nutritional value.

And these are some of the full-time jobs I've had:

  • Sudonum (2017–2021): A SaaS for programmatic telephony, call tracking, and WhatsApp lead tracking.

    I was the lead full-stack developer in a tech team of four people. I developed prototypes for new product ideas, facilitated code deploys across six regions, and was involved in all technical aspects of the business.

  • Pilot Labs (2016–2017): An MVP software studio.

    I was the only full-stack developer in a small, ambitious team trying to build profitable SaaS products. We developed about three products before closing up shop.

  • M4JAM (2015–2016): A South African micro-jobbing platform.

    I joined as a junior full-stack developer, straight out of university. I helped migrate the platform from Parse to Django and fell in love with Django in the process.

Hmm, I'm definitely seeing a preference for early-stage startups & projects. So what's your preferred tech stack?

Yes, exactly! I mostly prefer building new products with "boring technology" (i.e., mature tech with little to no surprises).

These are some of the technologies I'm most comfortable with:

  • Languages: Python, JavaScript, Go, Bash
  • Web: Django, Flask, htmx, React, CSS, Tailwind
  • Databases: SQLite, PostgreSQL
  • Infrastructure: Debian, Docker, Kamal, Ansible
  • Hosting: Hetzner, Fly.io, AWS, DigitalOcean
  • Observability: Grafana, Prometheus, OpenTelemetry
  • CI/CD: CircleCI, GitHub Actions
  • AI: Claude Code
  • Telephony: FreeSWITCH

Still, I'm open to learning new technologies when the job calls for it.

How much AI do you use on a daily basis?

I'm using AI every day! About $100 worth (per month).

Most of my coding sessions start with a conversation with AI and end with a manual code review.

I rely on AI to generate code, but I don't necessarily trust it to generate the right code. I rely on my own expertise to guide the process.

Okay, so what's the best way to start working together?

Listen, we don't know each other that well, and honestly I might not be the right fit for your project, but the only way to truly know is if we work together.

I recommend we start with a tightly scoped project, about 10 hours of work (i.e., less than $1000), and go from there. That way you can get a feel for my working style without any long-term commitment.

But before all that, it all starts with a conversation about what you're trying to achieve. Email me what you have in mind and I'll tell you whether I can help or not: jason@newidea.io