About Kaperkunde

Who you would be working with

I am Kevin Lohman. Kaperkunde is my freelance practice, registered in the Netherlands and run from Amstelveen, just south of Amsterdam.

Twenty years of building software, most of it in Silicon Valley. Senior software engineer at Meta through February 2026, and at Apple from 2020 to 2024. Before that, Distinguished iOS Architect at BlackBerry, after five years as iOS Software Architect at Good Technology — work that produced four patents in mobile inter-container communication and security. Earlier still, six years in the US Navy deploying SHF satellite communication suites, with a BSBA in Computer Information Systems from Hawaii Pacific University earned along the way.

From 2023 to 2025 I ran my own independent software practice in California. Kaperkunde is its Dutch continuation, started when my family moved here in 2026.

What I do

• Fractional CTO and technical advisory — for companies with a product and no technical leader. Assessments, architecture review, technical hiring, and diligence support.
• Interim senior engineering — embedded 3 to 12 month contracts on your team.
• Fixed-scope product builds — MVPs and defined pieces of product, senior-built and AI-accelerated.

iOS and Swift since 2008. Full-stack TypeScript, React and React Native, Node and Python. Production AI engineering: agentic systems, MCP, and LLM integration where it earns its place rather than where it demos well.

What I do not do: I am one engineer, not an agency. If you need a team of six, I will say so and point you at people who do that well.

How I got here

In 1989 my dad brought home a work computer — an Apple II/e — and I became obsessed with technology as a multiplier of human effort and reach. That turned into a career that ran through circuits and electrical engineering, networks and satellite systems, information security, and eventually two decades of software work among some of the best engineers I have met, in startups and at Apple, Meta and BlackBerry.

In 2026 my family and I moved to the Netherlands. I still enjoy complex problems more than easy ones, and I would rather tell a client something inconvenient early than expensively late.

Why "Kaperkunde"

I wanted a Dutch name that carried both hard-earned technical judgement and hacker culture — getting the impossible done with limited resources. I also wanted it to hold on to the Navy years: adventure, calculated risk, and delivering under pressure.

Kaperkunde translates roughly as "pirate-ology", the skills of the privateer. A can-do attitude, backed by deep experience.

Working together

I take a small number of engagements at a time, remote or on-site across the Randstad, working in English and alongside Dutch-speaking teams. Rates on request; fractional CTO pricing is published here.