About

I'm Josh Price. I build software, companies, and teams.

I've been writing code professionally for over 3 decades. Started with BASIC, Pascal, C and assembly, moved through Java and Ruby, and finally landed on Elixir. Each language taught me something about how to think, not just how to type.

I live in Sydney, Australia. I founded Alembic, a consultancy focused on helping companies build simpler, more scalable systems. I work as a fractional CTO for founders who need experienced technical guidance. I speak at conferences about Elixir, infrastructure economics, and organizational design.

What I Actually Do

Most of my work comes down to one thing: helping teams move faster by removing the things that slow them down.

Sometimes that's architecture. Sometimes it's technology choices. Sometimes it's just telling someone that the complex thing they're planning to build isn't necessary.

I've built high-concurrency systems, led engineering teams, advised startups, and made plenty of mistakes along the way. If I'm honest, the mistakes were probably more educational.

How I Think

I believe most software problems are systems problems in disguise. The code is usually fine. The architecture, the team structure, the incentives: that's where things go wrong.

I'm skeptical of complexity. Not because simple things are easy to build, but because complex things are expensive to maintain. The cost of software isn't in writing it. It's in understanding it later. Code is more likely to be a liability, the system and the learnings are the fundamental assets.

I'd rather have a small team with clear constraints than a large team with unclear goals. Conway's Law is real. Your org chart becomes your architecture whether you want it to or not.

Community

I've been organising tech meetups in Sydney for many years:

I recently keynoted CodeBEAM 2025 in Berlin and ElixirConf US 2025 alongside Bruce Tate. I've spoken at ElixirConf EU, CodeBEAM, and many other conferences. I usually like the conversations that happen in hallways at least as much as the talks themselves.

Outside Work

I read a lot. Mostly non-fiction: systems thinking, strategy, history of technology. Some fiction when I need to think differently. See what I'm reading.

I'm interested in how small groups of people build things that matter. Startups, open source projects, research labs. The dynamics are similar even when the outputs are different.

Connect

Work With Me

If you're building something that matters:

  • Fractional CTO: Technical leadership without the full-time commitment
  • Speaking: Keynotes and talks for your conference or team
  • Alembic: Consulting on architecture and Elixir systems

Get in touch →