From Texas
to Valencia.
Palanca is Joseph Chappell. Principal-level software engineer, technical leader, conference speaker, and open-source collaborator, with 12 years in the industry. Based in Valencia, Spain. Now focused on building custom software for small businesses at prices that make sense.
The engineering background
Seven years at Q2, building the frontend architecture for white-label banking applications used by financial institutions across the US. That included Tecton, a micro-frontend framework that let multiple teams ship independently into a single product. Then PayIt, building payment platforms for government agencies. Conference speaker in the Ember.js community. Open-source maintainer. 12 years of writing code that handles real money and can't go down.
Why this,
why now.
After a decade building software for big companies, the thing that became obvious is that small businesses have the same problems but nobody builds for them. The tools that Fortune 500 companies take for granted don't exist at the 10-person-company level. Not because the technology isn't there, but because the economics never worked. A custom app used to cost more than a small business could justify.
AI changed the math. The same engineer who used to need a team and six months can now build something useful in a week or two. That's what Palanca is: 12 years of experience applied at a price point that finally makes sense for the businesses that need it most.
The rest of it.
American expat from Texas, now a permanent resident in Spain. Based in Massalfassar, just outside Valencia. Palanca works in both Spanish and English, and serves clients across Europe and the US. Mornings for European teams, afternoons for American ones.
When not building things for clients, Joseph is usually grinding sausage and working the grill for friends, chasing his kids around, or charging down a mountainside on his bike.