about
a workshop, not a factory.
Whetstone Works is a small software studio. We take on a narrow number of engagements at a time and give each one the attention it needs.
the name
why a whetstone.
A whetstone is a plain, unglamorous tool. It does not cut anything itself. It takes an edge that has gone dull and brings it back - patiently, a little at a time, until the tool works the way it was meant to.
That is the work. Most companies do not need a new blade; they need the one they have to be sharp again. We are the stone: quiet, specific, and measured by how well your systems cut afterwards - not by how much of them we replaced.
systems sharpened
years in the workshop
average latency cut
uptime held under load
how we work
four things we hold to.
read before you write
The fastest way to make a system worse is to change it before you understand it. We spend real time reading the code and watching the process before we touch anything.
small, observable changes
We prefer a series of changes you can verify over one you have to trust. Every step ships with a way to tell whether it worked.
leave it legible
Work we do should be readable by the people who own it after us. Clever is a cost. We write for the next engineer, not to impress this one.
say what is true
If the honest answer is that you do not need us, that is the answer you get. We would rather scope out of work than oversell it.
the team
who you actually work with.
You work directly with the engineers doing the work - not an account manager relaying messages. The people who scope your project are the people who write the code.
[NAME]
founder & principal engineer
Leads engagements and writes code. [Add a one-line background once approved.]
LinkedIn[NAME]
principal engineer
Backend and data systems. [Add a one-line background once approved.]
LinkedIn[NAME]
ai engineer
Retrieval, evaluation, and applied ML. [Add a one-line background once approved.]
LinkedInrecognition
awards & partners.
Placeholder slots for now - we’ll fill these in as they’re earned.
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technology partners
start here
have a system that used to feel fast?
Tell us what it does and where it hurts. We’ll tell you honestly whether it needs sharpening or rebuilding - and what that would take.