Founder of Seedling Systems

Steve Peak

Software Engineer, Founder & All-Purpose Builder

I build software products end to end, plus a whole lot of other things. 20+ years in software alone, 10+ in permaculture, self-taught, and still thirsty for learnin'.

See my work View résumé
Steve Peak

Software Engineer & All-Purpose Builder

I'm a self-taught software engineer with 20+ years shipping web apps, and these days I run Seedling Systems, where I design and build my own products: Seedling CRM, SafeNode, and Seedling Agent. Alongside that, I'm an accredited permaculture instructor who has founded and run natural building schools on working farms, in Costa Rica and now in Hawaii.

I grew up in the Silicon Valley of California watching Macguyver, taking things apart and building with legos. Thirsty for knowledge, my skillset is in finding paths others haven't, in solving problems that have never been solved or in making things that have never been made before. I'm thirsty for learnin' and I grew up a reclusive nerd so that you didn't have to. I've built my life around making ideas into reality and having fun along the way.

My Work View my résumé

Areas of Expertise

Software Engineering

20+ years across the stack, from data-visualization front ends in Silicon Valley to full products of my own: Seedling CRM, SafeNode, and Seedling Agent. Laravel, Node.js, and a focus on usable, maintainable systems.

Permaculture Design

Accredited permaculture instructor with international experience. Founded natural building schools on working farms in Costa Rica and Hawaii, specializing in tropical systems, food forests, and regenerative land management across diverse climates.

Fabrication & Repair

Skilled in diagnosing, fixing, and creating with a wide variety of materials and tools. Building structures, modifying equipment, and developing practical solutions to complex problems.

Systems Design

Specialized in holistic systems thinking and integration. Designing closed-loop systems that are efficient, regenerative, and productive across scales from backyard to farm.

Music Production

Produced music for Spotify, created ambient tracks for film, and developed music for video games. Expertise in both digital and analog sound creation and manipulation.

Digital Art

Creating visual works across mediums including digital illustration, logo design, and UI/UX design. Combining technical precision with artistic intuition.

My Journey

Early Years

Silicon Valley Roots

Growing up in Silicon Valley during the tech boom (at the risk of dating myself too much, I remember the time before internet!), I was surrounded by innovation. Taking apart electronics, building with LEGOs, and coding on early computers laid the foundation for my engineering mindset.

Career Development

Software Engineering

Working with dozens of teams across various industries, I developed a versatile skill set in software engineering, project management, and systems architecture. Each challenge required innovative solutions and adaptability.

Expanding Horizons

Global Permaculture Study

Traveling internationally to study permaculture and sustainable systems, I gained certification as a permaculture teacher. Working in diverse environments expanded my understanding of regenerative design principles. I have done ranges of projects from full dome houses, to earth ovens. I've studied botany, biochemistry, physics and am generally interested in science of all kinds.

Building & Selling

Earth Ayni, Costa Rica

Bought, built, and ran a permaculture farm and natural building school in Costa Rica for several years, teaching sustainable construction and land management before selling the property.

Creative Growth

Digital Arts & Music

Parallel to technical work, I developed as a digital artist and music producer, creating for various platforms and media. I've scored sound for video, produced albums, written music and played live. I also have live painted, done mural work, design, illustration, animation and have artwork featured in several galleries. This creative practice informs my approach to all projects. I appreciate art expressed in many forms, including through construction or even engineering.

Present

Natural Building School & Regenerative Farm, Hawaii

Founded and run a regenerative farm and community project on Hawaii's Big Island, teaching hands-on permaculture while working to implement the best regenerative practices we can. The farm is a living laboratory and a teaching center for the next generation.

Featured Products

Some current projects I've designed and built end to end, entirely solo.

Seedling CRM

Big business tools, houseplant prices.

An all-in-one business platform: CRM, invoicing, projects, bookings, and accounting, priced flat instead of per seat. Built on Laravel with a REST API, Stripe and Square billing, and integrations for Claude, MCP, and Zapier.

LaravelREST APIStripe & SquareMCP
Visit seedlingcrm.com

SafeNode

A policy firewall for AI agents.

Multi-tenant governance that gates every AI-agent action before it runs, returning allow, warn, review, or deny verdicts with weighted risk scoring and immutable audit logs. Laravel rules engine, Filament dashboard, single evaluate API.

LaravelFilamentPolicy engineREST API
Visit safenode.tech

Seedling Agent

Your own local AI agent.

A private AI agent that runs on your own machine and connects to Seedling to get real work done, from briefings and goals to hands-on automation. Local-first, so your data stays yours.

PythonLocal AIMCPAutomation
Part of Seedling

And a lot more... If you're interested, check it out:

More Stuff I do

Teaching Philosophy

"My approach to teaching is hands-on, practical, and focused on empowering students to think for themselves. I believe in learning by doing, failing forward, and developing an engineer's mindset."

Hands-On Learning

Real skills develop through practical application, not just theory. My teaching emphasizes doing, making, and solving real problems.

Systems Thinking

I teach students to see connections and think holistically, understanding how components interact to create functional systems.

Problem-Solving Mindset

Developing creative approaches to challenges and building confidence in one's ability to figure things out is essential.

Get in Touch

Interested in discussing your project, learning more about the apprenticeship, or just want to connect? Reach out with the options below.