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Marcin Fratczak

About me

Senior software developer, SaaS builder, and photographer based in Katowice, Poland. Building products since 2011.

I'm Marcin Fratczak — a senior software developer, SaaS builder, and photographer based in Katowice, Poland. I've been writing code since 2006, building products since 2011, and figuring out how my brain works since... well, that's still ongoing.

What I do

I build software products. Currently I'm focused on Pixeria — a tool that replaces the endless email ping-pong between photographers and their clients with one streamlined workflow: galleries, orders, proofing, revisions — all in one place. I know the pain firsthand because I'm a photographer too.

By day I work as a Senior PHP Developer, shipping production code across fintech, payment gateways, and hospitality systems. By night (and honestly, most nights until 3 AM — ADHD runs on its own clock), I build my own things.

My stack: PHP (20 years), Next.js, TypeScript, Prisma, Docker, AWS. I design the UI, write the backend, set up the infrastructure, and talk to users. Full-stack in the truest sense — not just code, but product.

My story

I started programming in 2006 at a computer hardware wholesale company. Not because I dreamed of writing code — because I wanted to create things and couldn't afford to hire someone to do it. That constraint turned into my biggest advantage.

By 2010 I went freelance. Built e-commerce stores, automated sales on Allegro, shipped whatever clients needed. In 2011, together with a co-founder, I launched Piskle.pl — a touch typing course that quietly generated revenue for over a decade. In 2012 I taught myself Java and shipped Android apps from scratch, just because I wanted to see if I could.

Then came the burnout. A two-year project with a co-founder that went nowhere — endless pivots, polished features nobody asked for, zero marketing. I crashed hard. Took a year off from side projects entirely.

That detour led me to photography. I completed a professional photography course (2015-2016) and discovered a world that would later become the foundation for Pixeria. Understanding photographers' workflows from the inside — the frustration of managing client communication through email and Dropbox — gave me a problem worth solving.

Since 2018 I've been at TSH, working across 15+ projects as a senior developer. Finance platforms, payment integrations, hotel management systems. Every project sharpened a different skill. But the pull toward building my own products never went away.

The ADHD chapter

In early 2025 I was diagnosed with ADHD. Suddenly, two decades of patterns made sense — the hyperfocus sessions that produced incredible work, the abandoned projects, the notebooks full of ideas that never got organized, the fact that pressure and deadlines made me better instead of worse.

I stopped fighting how my brain works and started designing around it. Flexible plans instead of rigid schedules. Following curiosity instead of forcing discipline. Shipping "good enough" instead of polishing forever.

I write about this — not as an expert, but as someone figuring it out in real time. If you've started dozens of projects and finished a handful, you'll probably recognize yourself.

What I believe

Simplicity wins. The best tools are the ones that feel obvious. I obsess over making complex things simple and intuitive — especially for people who aren't tech-savvy.

Solve real problems. I ask "what's needed?" before I write a single line of code. Validation before building. Conversations before features.

Done beats perfect. This one's personal. As a recovering perfectionist (Gallup StrengthsFinder has Maximizer at #7 — I feel it every day), I've learned that shipping something imperfect teaches you more than planning something flawless.

Beyond the screen

Photography — street and urban, mostly. It's how I decompress and see the world differently.

Sports — swimming, squash, running (coming back to it), and a dream of kitesurfing and diving that's getting closer.

Chess — since childhood. Still my favorite way to think.

Travel — not enough of it yet. The long-term plan involves a camper van, Polish seaside summers, and winters somewhere warm.

Get in touch

I'm always up for a conversation about building products, the indie founder life, or photography.