Small by design. Senior by default.
We used to live in Portland, Oregon. We now live in Mission Beach, Australia. We'd love to tell you that story, but that's for another time.
We are a fractional product and engineering team. We strategise, design, build and launch products, end to end. We are ex-agency, remote-first and AI-first, and we've been doing this a long time, more than 20 years building software and digital products for teams around the world, including Google, YouTube, Automattic, Lonely Planet, Ford, GoNoodle and HealthStream.
Being fractional means we work across a small number of teams and products at the same time. It keeps us close to the product decisions and close to the code, giving us the context and judgment to know when to slow down, when to align, and when we can move fast.
You work with the same senior people from the first conversation to the last release. We work with teams all over the world, and put the time differences to good use, moving the work along continuously and asynchronously.
How we work
- Senior by default.
- Experienced product and engineering on every engagement, not a junior bench with a senior on the kickoff call.
- No handoffs.
- The people you meet are the people who design, build and decide. No account layer in the middle.
- Strategy through delivery.
- One continuous team from the first conversation to launch, so context stays in the room where the work happens.
- Time zones that work.
- We overlap with US afternoons for decisions, then keep shipping while your team sleeps, so progress shows up overnight, not in a stalled backlog.
FAQs
Questions we get asked
We work on a fixed monthly retainer, based on the mix of product and engineering support required. Engagements typically reserve between 25% and 100% of our team's capacity. As a guide, a 50% engagement is around 10 days per month. Rates start from AU$1,500 per consultant per day.
There's no minimum, but a typical engagement starts at around three months and may continue for longer depending on the problem.
It starts with a call to understand what's happening and where we can help. From there we recommend a fractional mix that fits, and begin with discovery and design.
We work as an extension of your team. You'll work directly with a senior product lead and senior engineer who can take a product from strategy to launch, or seamlessly embed into your team to provide leadership, execution, or both.
Yes, and we enjoy it. We're ex-agency ourselves, so we understand the pace, standards and expectations that come with top-tier brands. We slot in as senior product and engineering capacity when your studio needs extra bench strength.
It works in your favour. We overlap with US afternoons for live calls and decisions, then keep building, fixing and shipping while your team sleeps. You wake up to progress, not a stalled backlog. Documentation and handovers land asynchronously each day, so momentum stays close to continuous.
Yes. Heaps Smart began working entirely with non-profits, and helping organisations use technology for good is still close to what we do. Tell us what you're working towards and we'll see what's possible.