Small by design.
Not by accident.
We believe a small, experienced, empowered team can do better work than a larger one. Not sometimes. Consistently. Bigger is not better. Better is better.
Why Essential Code exists
Most agencies grow because growth is the default goal. More clients, more staff, more process, more layers between the people who sell the work and the people who actually do it.
We went the other way. Essential Code is deliberately small. No account managers, no handoffs, no junior developers finishing what a senior sold. Just a tight team that takes full responsibility for what it ships.
The micro agency model
A micro agency is not a small agency trying to grow into a big one. It is a deliberate choice to stay focused, stay senior, and stay accountable.
You always work directly with the people doing the work.
Decisions get made faster because there are fewer layers.
Quality stays consistent because the same people own every project.
Responsibility never falls through the cracks.
Focus Over Scale
We limit the number of active projects we take on. Not because we cannot handle more, but because we know what happens when a team spreads too thin. We have seen it at other agencies. We chose not to repeat it.
Bigger is not better. Better is better.
What we believe
Websites are long-living systems
Someone must own them after launch or they fall apart.
A good CMS gets out of the way
Editors should focus on content, not on fighting their tools.
Fixed pricing aligns incentives
Hourly billing rewards slowness. We agree on a number, deliver the work, and stand behind it.
Technical excellence is a baseline
What separates good work from bad is respect for design, clarity in communication, and ownership of outcomes.
The Team
Meet the team
Essential Code is founder-led and works with a small network of trusted specialists. We also collaborate with adjacent experts in branding, content strategy, SEO, and infrastructure when projects call for it.
David Wippel
Founder, Development
Oliver Schöndorfer
Design, Zeichenschatz.net
Stefan Rösch
Development
David Wippel
Over 20 years of building software and web systems, always independently. The background spans SaaS products, ERP systems, and complex integrations, which means I understand how businesses work behind the website, not just in front of it. Essential Code is what happens when you combine that with a genuine care for design and how marketing teams actually work.
Oliver Schöndorfer
Oliver runs Zeichenschatz, a UI design studio near Vienna. He brings typographic passion, rigour and design clarity to every project we work on together. Good design is not decoration. It is how a system communicates.
Stefan Rösch
Stefan is the thinking mind behind our integrations. He handles the complex backend work, the ERP connections, the data flows, and the parts of a project where getting it wrong is expensive. When a system needs to be fast, reliable, and maintainable under the hood, Stefan is the reason it is.
Our Guarantees
We are accountable
We back our work with three guarantees. Not because we have to. Because we are accountable for what we build.
Go-live guarantee
We commit to a go-live date at the start of every project. If we miss it and it is our fault, we work for free until the site is live. For every week we are late, you get one free month of maintenance on top.
Bug-free guarantee
If something breaks and it is on us, we fix it. No questions, no extra cost. For as long as the site is live.
30-day money-back guarantee
If you are not satisfied within the first 30 days, you get a full refund. No questions asked. Everything we built until that point stays yours.