Mentoring · A person, not a chatbot
A senior engineer mentor, not another AI chat.
AI tools answer the question you ask. A senior engineer with twenty years of shipping software asks the questions you did not know to ask, looks at your whole product, and cares whether it works. Mentoring for founders and builders, near Manchester or anywhere in the UK.
Based in Hale, near Manchester. We work remotely across the UK and travel nationwide when it helps.
What a chat window can't do
AI is a great tool. It is not a mentor.
Sees your whole product
A chat sees the snippet you paste. A mentor sees how the pieces fit together, and spots the problem three steps before it bites.
Tells you what you didn't ask
AI answers the question in front of it. An experienced engineer notices when you are asking the wrong question, and says so.
Knows your goals
Your mentor knows your product, your deadline and your budget, week after week, so the advice fits your situation rather than a generic one.
Tells you no
When to stop polishing and launch, when a shortcut will hurt later, and when an idea needs a rethink. Judgement that comes from twenty years of real products and real mistakes.
Who it's for
People building something real.
Building your MVP yourself
In Lovable, Cursor, Bolt or by hand, with no engineer to ask. Straight answers and reviews of what you have built.
First product, not first code
You can code, but you have not shipped and run a product before. Architecture, hosting, costs, and what to leave for later.
Want to get properly good
You can make things work. Now you want to know why, what breaks with real users, and how experienced engineers would do it.
Meet your mentor first.
Book a free 30-minute call. Talk through what you are building and see whether we are the right fit before you pay anything.
How it works
Start free, then pick a pace.
A 30-minute call
Tell us what you are building and where you are stuck. No charge, no obligation.
Unblock session
An hour with a senior engineer on one problem, or several. No subscription.
Two calls a week
Plus questions between calls, reviews of your work, and a launch check before real users arrive.
Four calls a week
For the run-up to launch, with faster replies, more reviews, and a plan to get live.
Pause or cancel any time. If your first month has not been useful, tell us before your second payment and we refund it. Full details.
AI and a mentor, together
We are not anti-AI. We build with it every day. The best results come from using AI tools to move fast, and a senior engineer to set the direction, review what gets built, and catch what the tools miss.
Questions
What does a software engineer mentor do?
Helps you make technical decisions, reviews what you build, gets you unstuck, and helps you get better at building, based on real experience of shipping software rather than general advice.
Is this career mentoring?
No. Our mentoring is for people building a product. If you want help landing a first engineering job or preparing for interviews, a careers-focused mentor will suit you better.
Can I still use ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor?
Please do. We will help you use them well, and review what they produce.
How is this different from booking random experts?
You work with a named senior engineer from Mayker who gets to know your product, reviews your actual work, and can bring in the wider team if your product needs building properly.
Do you meet in person?
Calls are online, so you can be anywhere in the UK. We are based near Manchester and can meet in person when it helps, further afield too.