Hi, we're Gaiwan
(pronounced like guy-one).*
We are a global Clojure and ClojureScript consultancy who help small and medium businesses with software development and Clojure consulting and training.
You may know us from our several popular open source Clojure libraries and tools like the Clojure test runner Kaocha.
We are your partner for timeless software that is alive, whole, elegant, precise, egoless, malleable, inspectable, and free from inner contradictions.
The world's smartest founders work with us when they're ready for leverage in fast, scalable code
Companies where precision and accuracy are critical, including Aviation Manufacturing, International Business Accounting, AI-leveraged web tools, In-Person and Remote Conference Production, have trusted and partnered with us.
“Arne is a technological maestro. As the leader of Gaiwan, he has high energy and high standards, knows which questions to ask, good at the big AND small things, and willing to get deep into the code.” - Gene Kim, Founder of IT Revolution
"Gaiwan was comissioned to create the Datomic database driver for Metabase, and worked with Eleven to integrate Metabase into our system. They completely took the pain away from us and let us focus on our core product." - Noe Saglio, Founder of Eleven
"We worked with Gaiwan on a complex ClojureScript test runner, and an integration of our product with a popular service. In both instances, they managed their time and resources well, effectively navigated unknowns, delivered high-quality code and communicated clearly. We had nothing but positive feedback, and would highly recommend Gaiwan as a partner." - Tibor Claassen, Principal Engineer at Pitch
"We have worked with the Gaiwan team for a large part of our journey. This has included tooling improvements, architectural feedback, improvements to our testing approaches, and one-on-one coaching sessions with our developers." - Misha Karpenko, Co-founder of Pitch
"The Gaiwan team helped us deliver a flawless attendee experience for our conferences. They have created a Bespoke editing and rendering tool to meet ITRev's needs. Created a live streaming conference platform and integrated it into several services and much more. It has been a delight working with them." - Alex Broderick-Forster, Director of Brand at IT Revolution
Work with Gaiwan
We can build and consult on your codebase or build and mentor your in-house team.
🔧 Custom Software Development: Whether you need a full-stack web application, real-time data processing, API design and integration, cloud-native development, or DevOps, we help you achieve your business goals with software. Whether scaling a startup or extending your current codebase, we have the experience to bring your ideas to life from concept to deployment. Learn more (LINK to ITRev Case Study here).
🌐 Architecture Review and Design: Ensure your software foundation is rock-solid. Our experienced architects conduct thorough assessments of your existing systems, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. We then craft robust architectural designs, aligning your technology stack with scalability, security, and performance best practices. (Link to ? case study here).
📊 Data Analysis and BI: Leverage the power of data with our data analysis and BI services. From data collection to data wrangling, analytics, dashboards, data pipeline, ETL development, we help you work with data. We can half the time of Datomic queries. Learn more (LINK to Videra / Eleven case study here).
🌐 Fractional CTO Tech Leadership: Need strategic guidance, technology roadmapping, or mentorship on your software projects or teams? Leverage our seasoned expertise and processes to elevate your in-house capabilities. And we can onboard your new team fast. (LINK to Humble case study here).
Training: Based on our free Lambda Island curriculum, we can lift up your entire engineering team on Clojure:
- Clojure 101: Clojure from scratch, Clojure for Java / Ruby / Python developers
- Clojure 301: Becoming a REPL Pro to unlock the power of interacting directly with your running code
- Clojure 601: Advanced Kaocha topics: Generative Testing
Why Choose Gaiwan?
🛠️ We Build Timeless Software 🛠️
Better software approaches and techniques exist, some of them for decades, outside of the mainstream business and software industry. We believe we can do better than the status quo by being nimble, well-read, open-minded, and opinionated. We write concise, expressive, and robust code with high code quality in a collaborative development process.
🌐 Our Expertise in Clojure, a Powerful and Expressive Language 🌐
We believe in choosing technologies that pave the way for future innovation: technologies that have stood the test of time and prioritize upgrade paths, backward compatibility, and long term support. Clojure's simplicity enhances code readability, reduces complexity, and empowers developers to focus on solving problems rather than wrestling with intricate syntax. Furthermore, Clojure simplifies concurrent programming with its unique approach to managing state, which is crucial for building scalable, high-performance applications. At Gaiwan, we value the elegance that simplicity brings to our code, making it more maintainable and scalable.
💡 We Own Our Stack: Open Source Software Advocacy 💡
Owning the stack is a mindset and an investment: we develop and maintain our own open source tooling like kaocha, a full featured next generation Clojure test runner. Our custom open source libraries align with our values and workflow as well as benefit the entire Clojure community. While we stand firm in our commitment to Open Source software, we're also pragmatic and have a "ship-it" mindset to deliver tangible results swiftly. We make informed decisions about where our time is best spent.
🤝 Human-Centric Approach 🤝
Starting from the perspective of the human user, we create humane software to enrich lives. Through communication and collaboration, we deliver effective solutions that genuinely meet your needs and add value. We do whatever it takes to make a project successful.
🌈 Our Values 🌈
The main thing that makes Gaiwan special is people and process. In a work environment where people feel validated, psychologically safe, adequately compensated, and satisfied in their work, our team support each other, communicate frequently and without friction, work smart with adequate automation, with home-grown tooling that suits our needs, with just enough process to be able to work professionally and deliver consistently. Together we are much bigger than the sum of the parts.
We value community and foster a culture of collaboration and transparency internally, with our clients, and the Clojure community.
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Meet the Gaiwan team
Arne Brasseur
Berlin | @plexus@toot.cat
Arne has been delivering software solutions for well over a decade, as well as coaching individuals and teams on topics both technical and organizational. Since 2013 he's been coaching and consulting companies solve complicated real world problems. He has a natural instinct to break down highly complex problems and explain them as a series of simple solutions. He loves a nice cup of tea, and likes to to go for runs.
Bettina Shzu-Juraschek
Berlin
As a product manager / owner, Bettina has helped users relocate, learn languages, and get shopping deals online and in mobile apps. People have told her that her deep user insight and pragmatic approach to technical solutions are her superpowers. To balance all the screen time, Bettina practices yoga and meditate.
Laurence Chen
Taipei | @replware@g0v.social
Laurence is an experienced developer with a knack for understanding the needs of the customer, and delivering pragmatic solutions. He has created bespoke systems for Taiwan-based SMBs, and offers consulting to the LINE corporation.
Mitesh Shah
Mumbai | @oxalorg@twitter.com
Mitesh learnt coding because of his desire to hack video games. This slowly turned to a passion for all things computer. Active contributor to OSS, he was also funded by ClojuristsTogether to work on Clojurians Log V2. He creates Clojure related screencasts on his YouTube Channel.
* Thanks for reading to the end; in case you didn't know, a gaiwan is a lidded bowl for brewing loose-leaf tea. 🍵