Contract

What I do

I’m a solo entrepreneur and product engineer. I built Stower from scratch. It’s a Mac app that reads iMessage’s database and lets you write drafts for important conversations. It’s shipping, and I’m working on getting it into the Mac App Store. I’ve also built PodcastBrief, an AI-powered pipeline that digests podcast feeds into structured briefs with references.

My process is spec-first: I write down exactly what needs to happen, then let AI execute against that spec. Since Stower, I build and evolve the harness around every project, through guardrails like tests, linting, and skills to keep shipping clean and reliable code. (See Build your own harness.)

How I contract

I’m not looking for full-time work at someone else’s company, and I don’t do retainers or ongoing services. Most of the year I’m focused on shipping my own products and getting customers.

If a project is a good fit and I have the bandwidth, I’ll take it on as a one-time engagement with my full attention. Here’s what I look for:

• A fixed total price.
• Milestone-based payments, not hourly billing.
• Around 4 weeks. That’s enough time for me to deliver, but not dragging anything out.

Scope is agreed up front during a paid scoping phase. I’ll be honest with you based on the project about what I can reasonably deliver in 4 weeks. If you’re not satisfied, the contract ends and we go our own ways. If we proceed and scope changes later, we write it down and adjust.

When the engagement is over, you’re not left with code only I can maintain. There will be documentation for you to review, and the codebase comes with a harness: guardrails, specifications, and skills so you or your team can continue shipping clean code.

Getting in touch

If you have a scoped problem that needs shipping, email me at emily@emilykang.dev

Currently open to one contract at a time between July to September 2026.