The Layer Tax: Every Abstraction Has a Price
From bare metal to Kubernetes to serverless—each layer adds latency, memory, and complexity.
What We Do
Honest technology guidance. We tell you what works, what doesn't, and what vendors won't.
Technology Strategy
Roadmaps based on what actually works, not what's trending. Pattern recognition from multiple technology cycles applied to your specific situation.
Software Architecture
Design systems that actually work. We'll tell you when you need microservices (rarely) and when a monolith is the right answer (usually).
The Under-the-Hood Audit
Know what you're buying before you wire the money. We check the architecture, the assembly, and the cloud bill. Free checklist.
Legacy Rescue
Stop rewriting working code. We help you stabilize and modernize legacy systems without the "Big Bang" rewrite that kills companies.
AI Reality Check
Avoid the 95% failure rate. We separate "Demo Magic" from "Production Reality." If your vendor can't explain the inference cost, we will.
Fractional CTO
Executive leadership for when the "Happy Path" ends. Strategic guidance and crisis management for startups and growing companies.
Why RoamingPigs?
My late wife MJ and I donated everything we owned and traveled the world together for over eight years—until COVID forced us to pause. Just our backpacks and each other. We lived in Vietnam, made Tokyo's Shinjuku our favorite haunt, explored South Korea, found the best street vendors in Bangkok—chasing great food wherever we went. We called ourselves the Roaming Pigs.
It was the most rewarding and meaningful time of my life. I created The Mariajuanita Guzman Art Foundation in her memory, and I started RoamingPigs to help fund it. This is my tribute to her. The spirit carries forward: go where the good stuff is, commit fully, never half-measure anything.
No Half-Measures
We don't drop slide decks and disappear. We stay until it ships.
Scar Tissue Over Certifications
45 years of patterns. We've seen this movie before.
Physics Over Feelings
We tell you what works. Even when it hurts.
Track Record
Measurable results across industries and stages
Voice AI for Government
Challenge: Commercial ASR accuracy dropped to 14-40% in noisy operational environments.
Result: 90-95% accuracy maintained in field conditions. Deployed to Coast Guard and DHS.
Push Platform at Scale
Challenge: Build real-time messaging for mobile devices at scale.
Result: 3,000 AWS instances, 30M concurrent connections. Architecture designed for billions.
Startup to Acquisition
Challenge: "Internet in a Box" product at Spry Inc needed to reach market fast.
Result: Sold to CompuServe for $100M (1995). NYT called it "the largest acquisition yet in the Internet business."
Enterprise CMS Pioneer
Challenge: Build publishing platform for MSNBC before "CMS" was a term (1995-1998).
Result: Workbench CMS served one of the first major cable news websites. Pattern still applies today.
Shipped at scale with
AWS
GCP
Azure
Cloudflare
Docker
K8s
PostgreSQL
Redis
Python
TypeScript
Go
Rust
Terraform
Linux
··· + dozens more
From the Field Manual
Contrarian takes on tech, startups, and software
Why Your AI Vendor Is Lying to You
Every vendor claims 95%+ accuracy. In production, you'll be lucky to get 70%.
Founder Ego Kills Startups Faster Than Bad Code
Great ideas, terrible self-awareness. The uphill battle that buries companies.
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Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
United States
Response Time
We typically respond within 24-48 business hours.