I finally did it. After years of thinking about it, procrastinating, and finding excuses, I launched my own software company website: falksoftware.com.
It's not a big deal, really. It's just a landing page. But somehow, putting yourself out there with your real name attached to a business feels different than the countless side projects I've built over the years. Those could always be dismissed as "just experiments." This one has my name on it.
Why now?
I've been working as a software developer for a while now, and I've always had this itch to do my own thing. Not necessarily quit my job and go full-time freelance (though who knows), but at least have a presence. A place where potential clients could find me, see what I do, and maybe reach out.
The trigger was a conversation with a friend who needed a small web app built. Nothing fancy, just a simple tool for their business. They asked if I knew anyone who could do it. I said I could. They asked where they could read more about my work. I had nothing to show them except a LinkedIn profile and some GitHub repos.
That felt embarrassing. I've been building software for years, and I couldn't even point someone to a professional-looking website. So I spent a weekend putting one together.
The boring tech stack
The site is built with Next.js. Yes, I know. I just complained about framework complexity in my head, and here I am using Next.js. But here's the thing: I'm already familiar with it, it's fast to deploy, and for a simple landing page, it works fine.
Vercel handles the hosting for free (for now), and the whole thing took about two days to build. Most of that time was spent agonizing over the copy. What do I even write about myself? How do I sound professional without sounding pretentious?
I went through about fifteen versions of the "About" section before settling on something that felt honest. Still not sure if it's any good, but at least it's out there.
What Falk Software actually is
Basically, I'm available for freelance software development work. Web apps, mobile apps, backend systems, whatever needs building. I've done a bit of everything over the years, from React frontends to Go backends to iOS apps in Swift.
My sweet spot is probably full-stack web development. I like building things end-to-end, from the database schema to the frontend animations. There's something satisfying about owning the entire stack, even if it means you're the one debugging everything at 2 AM.
I'm not trying to build an agency or hire a team. It's just me, for now. Maybe that changes someday, but right now I like the simplicity of being a one-person operation. No meetings, no politics, just building stuff.
The scary part
Launching this felt weirdly vulnerable. It's one thing to build side projects under pseudonyms or throw code on GitHub where nobody looks at it. It's another to say "hi, I'm Julian, I build software, hire me if you want."
What if nobody reaches out? What if the site looks amateur? What if someone I know sees it and thinks I'm being presumptuous?
I had to remind myself that literally everyone who has ever started anything had these same doubts. The only way to find out if it works is to ship it and see what happens.
So that's what I did. The site is live. I added it to my email signature. I told a few people about it. Now we wait and see.
What's next
For now, the plan is simple: keep building things. I have a few side projects I'm working on that I might write about here eventually. Some might become products, most will probably join the graveyard of abandoned repos. That's fine. The point is to keep moving.
If you're reading this and you need something built, you know where to find me. And if you're thinking about launching your own thing but keep putting it off—just do it. The worst that happens is nothing. The best that happens is everything.
Here's to new beginnings.
