Hi, I’m Rolf

I'm autistic. Here's what that means for how we'd work together.

I'm autistic — diagnosed as an adult, after a lifetime of quietly wondering why business seemed to run on a set of social rules everyone else had apparently been handed and I hadn't. Small talk, networking events, "let's grab a coffee and see where it goes" — I find all of it genuinely hard, and I've stopped pretending otherwise.

What I don't find hard is the actual work: reading a system closely, holding a lot of detail in my head at once, and building something that does exactly what it's supposed to do. If anything, that's where the same wiring that makes small talk exhausting makes the technical side easier.

In practice, that means:

• I'll never pitch you. I'll tell you plainly what I think your project needs, what it'll cost, and what I'm not the right fit for — no sales layer, no upselling, no "let's hop on a quick call" when an email would do.
• I work best in writing. Send me a clear brief and you'll get a clear answer. I'd rather trade three precise emails than sit through one loosely structured meeting.
• I don't do relationship-based business. I won't remember to ask about your weekend, and I'm not going to take you to lunch. What I will do is build exactly what you asked for, tell you honestly if I think you're asking for the wrong thing, and reply fast.

I mention this partly because it's true and I'd rather you know upfront than find it out awkwardly on a call. But mostly I mention it because I know I'm not the only person who finds the standard way business gets done — golf, small talk, vibes-based hiring decisions — genuinely alienating. If that's you too, you've probably already worked out that the person who explains things clearly and skips the theatre is usually also the person who gets the technical details right. That's not a coincidence.

My Journey

I started programming because I had to — back in the 90s I was fixing broken systems for clients and realised the only way to truly solve problems was to understand (and often rewrite) the code myself.

Since 2005 I’ve almost exclusively built bespoke solutions rather than using off-the-shelf software. Why? Because custom code means:

• Lower long-term costs
• No licence fees or lock-in
• Exactly the features you need — nothing you don’t
• Lightning-fast performance and rock-solid security

Beyond the Keyboard

I’ve started, run, and sold multiple businesses — from MacTherapy (Apple IT support in Perth) to being a founder of Radiowan, Australia’s first ISM-band broadband ISP (later ASX-listed as Datafast).

I’ve also built embedded systems, flown charter planes out of Jandakot, and once had a mesh networking technology stolen by a venture capitalist (lesson learned!).

These days I spend my free time flying paragliders — there’s nothing quite like hiking up a mountain with your wing on your back and soaring home on thermals.

Why Work With Me?