[jm]Japheth Miller
About

I make software that small teams actually open on Monday.

I’m a developer and designer based in Florida. Sixteen years as a product manager in multi-family software, hobby-coding the whole way through, before I started shipping seriously. I run my own SaaS, ottomated.io, and I take on a small number of client projects each year.

I work with small businesses and solo founders who need something built — a dashboard, an internal tool, an automation, occasionally a whole product. I’m at my best on tightly-scoped two- to six-week engagements.

Japheth Miller
↑ this is me, in roughly the room where most of the work happens.
How I work

Six things I’ve learned the hard way
and now believe quietly.

  1. 01
    Decide first, code second.

    Two days of deciding saves a week of building. I'll push for clarity before I write a line.

  2. 02
    Ship in two-week increments.

    Long projects are short projects, in a row. Each one ends with something deployable.

  3. 03
    Boring stack, sharp execution.

    I'd rather be the second-best React shop with the best ops than the reverse.

  4. 04
    Refuse the wrong feature kindly.

    My job is to keep the project on the road. Sometimes that means saying no to the thing you asked for.

  5. 05
    Leave the wiring tidy.

    Every project I leave behind is a project the next developer can pick up without calling me.

  6. 06
    One thread, end to end.

    You don't hand off between a designer, a developer, and a deployer. You hire me. The seam doesn't exist.

What I take on

Mostly yes. Sometimes very firmly no.

✓ Yes please
  • Custom dashboards & internal tools
  • Marketing sites that need to perform
  • SaaS MVPs (2–6 week scope)
  • Workflow automation & integrations
  • Brand + site combos for small businesses
  • Rescuing a stalled project
✗ Not for me
  • Crypto, casino, or AI snake oil
  • Long-running staff aug
  • Anything that needs a team of five
  • “Can you copy this competitor”
  • Work I won't be proud to show
Tools, currently
Next.js, Astro, and Remix on the front. Postgres + Drizzle, occasionally TimescaleDB. tRPC where it fits, GraphQL where it doesn’t. Tailwind for most things. I custom-design everything from scratch — no template kits, no off-the-shelf themes. Linear for tracking. Vercel and Fly for hosting. Resend for mail. Stripe for money. I’m happy to use your stack if it’s reasonable.
The path
2009—2025
Product manager
Sixteen years at a multi-family software company. Owned roadmaps, shipped releases, learned how software actually gets built — and broken — at scale.
2009—2025
Hobby coder
Side projects, weekend builds, slowly getting serious. The kind of practice you only notice in retrospect.
2025—2026
Built Ottomated.io
Decided to take it from hobby to product. Designed and built end-to-end over roughly twelve months.
2026
Launched Ottomated + independent work
Ottomated shipped to paying customers. Started taking on a small number of client projects alongside it.
I’m taking on new work in late 2026.
Let’s talk for thirty minutes and see if I’m the right fit.