Software engineer, Nairobi
I'm the engineer founders call when a product needs to actually happen.
I work as an embedded technical and product partner to founders and business owners: understanding the problem, making the calls, building what matters, and staying accountable until it ships.
Working with
- Founders shaping a product from a rough idea
- Teams stuck on a technical bottleneck
- Businesses that need someone to just own it
What I actually do
Not just someone who writes code.
Most engineers wait to be told what to build. I sit closer to the business, understanding why a decision matters, weighing the trade-offs with you, and taking ownership of moving the product forward, not just the ticket in front of me.
How I work
The same four steps, every engagement.
This is the order I actually work in, not a values poster. Skipping the first two is how products end up technically correct and strategically wrong.
Understand
Sit with the business logic, the users, and the constraints before touching a line of code.
Decide
Make the technical and product calls so you're not refereeing every detail yourself.
Build
Ship the smallest thing that actually moves the goal, not the most impressive one.
Own it
Stay accountable for the outcome, watch what breaks, and fix it before you have to ask.
Selected work
Every product, a different bottleneck.
A short note on each: the problem I was brought in to solve, and what I actually did about it.
Nyumbani
Product & engineering lead · Elixir / PhoenixNyumbani is a heritage-led platform reconnecting second and multi-generation Kenyans in the diaspora with Kenya: its culture, its stories and its people. I worked on this from the concept stage, shaping the product before building the MVP end to end. A personalised profile, a curated library of heritage and contemporary stories, a directory for diaspora communities and events, a homecoming experiences layer, and a section connecting the diaspora to opportunities back home.
Visit nyumbani.victormbashia.com →Sema
Full-stack build · Elixir / PhoenixSema needed a way to connect people with licensed therapists: individuals, couples and organisations, without the booking process feeling clinical or confusing. I built the platform end to end: virtual session scheduling, tailored intake flows for different needs, and a resource library, all designed to hold up under real emotional weight, not just look good in a demo.
Visit semawebapp.com →EazyRent
Product & platform build · Elixir / PhoenixEazyRent is a digital platform built to eliminate the fragmented workflows property owners and managers face when handling tenants, collections, payments, maintenance, expenses, and financial records across multiple tools. It brings these operations into one system, automates recurring collections and payment reconciliation through M-Pesa, cards, and bank transfers, provides wallet-based financial tracking, tenant payment links, maintenance workflows, and on-demand reporting, giving users a faster and more reliable way to run their property operations while keeping every transaction and expense accountable.
Visit eazyrent.biz →Hopewell Learning
Product & platform build · Elixir / PhoenixHopewell Learning gives organisations one calm home for running webinars and learning programmes, instead of juggling scheduling tools, spreadsheets and video links. Organisations sign up, invite facilitators and assign them to sessions, then publish a shared calendar their community can register from. Behind it sit registration, attendance and payout tracking, so each organisation can see how its programmes are actually performing.
Visit hopewelllearning.semawebapp.com →Asake Kenya
Ticketing platform · Elixir / PhoenixAn event-ticketing and artist-promotion platform where the real risk wasn't the UI. It was checkout failing under real demand. I built multiple ticket tiers, live availability tracking, and a payment flow that stays reliable when a lot of people try to buy the same thing at the same time.
Visit asakekenya.com →Kabeberi Sevens
High-availability system · Mwamba RugbyA ticketing system for Mwamba Rugby's events, where thousands of fans hit the site in a short window before kickoff. I built for that specific failure mode: zero downtime under a traffic spike, instant digital tickets, and a checkout that doesn't buckle when everyone shows up at once.
Visit mwambarugby.com →Who this works for
Best said plainly.
This works well when:
- You have a real business problem and need someone who can turn it into a working product.
- You want a technical partner who pushes back, not just a pair of hands.
- You're comfortable trusting decisions to someone who takes ownership of the outcome.
This isn't the right fit if:
- You already have a fixed spec you want followed exactly, with no input.
- You're looking for the cheapest hourly rate rather than a partner who cares about getting the right outcome.
Writing
Notes from the work.
Occasional essays on Elixir, Phoenix, and the practical side of shipping.
Why My Postgres Queries Were Slow: A B-Tree vs GIN Index
A hands on debugging story: why a B-tree index silently did nothing on an array column, and how switching to a GIN index took a tag-filter query from over 300ms to about 10ms.
Read → 02Testing in Elixir Phoenix
A practical walkthrough of testing in Phoenix: core concepts, useful strategies, and how to write reliable tests for real-world applications.
Read → 03Schemaless Validation in Elixir
How to validate data without a database schema in Elixir, with examples that make the process easy to apply.
Read → 04Asdf Guide for Elixir Developers
A beginner-friendly guide to using the asdf version manager to set up Elixir environments across projects.
Read → 05Plugs in Elixir
An introduction to Plugs: how they work and how to use them to build clean, reusable components in Phoenix.
Read →Get in touch
Tell me what you're building.
Email me directly. A couple of lines on the problem you're facing is enough to start. I'll read it properly and reply myself.
mbashiavictor@gmail.com