In short: I'm Eric Pedersen, sole operator of Simply Complex Systems, LLC. We do bespoke consulting and build custom systems on a per-engagement basis. You hire us for a defined piece of work, we do it, you pay the invoice. You own what we build for you. We retain the general methods and reusable bits we bring with us. We don't sign things that block adjacent work, we don't promise the world, and we don't hide behind legal language when something goes sideways. The rest of this page is the longer version of those sentences.
What we provide
Simply Complex Systems is a consulting practice that designs and builds custom, agent-powered systems for individuals and owner-operators. We are not a software product, a SaaS platform, or a marketplace. There is nothing here for you to log into. Each engagement is its own piece of work with its own scope.
How engagements work
Most engagements are fixed-scope: we agree on what we're building, what "done" looks like, what it costs, and roughly how long it'll take. That agreement gets written down in a short engagement contract before work starts. If a piece of work better fits a different shape (hourly investigation, a small retainer, a multi-phase project), we'll say so and put that in writing instead. We don't auto-renew anything.
Payment
We invoice through Stripe. Standard terms are net-30 from the invoice date unless your engagement contract says otherwise. Larger engagements may be split into milestones with a deposit up front. There are no surprise charges and no recurring billing unless you've explicitly agreed to it.
On refunds: we work until you're satisfied with the deliverable, or until we mutually agree to stop. If we agree to stop partway through, we'll square up fairly based on what's been done — full refund for work not yet started, pro-rated for work in flight. We'd rather end an engagement honestly than drag it out.
Who owns what we build
As a default: you own the deliverables we build for you — the custom code, the configurations, the documentation, the system as it sits in your environment. You can do whatever you want with it, including hand it to another consultant later.
We retain the general methods, patterns, and reusable components we bring into the work. If we use a script or a template that we already had and will keep using on other engagements, that doesn't transfer to you exclusively — you get a perpetual right to keep using it as part of your system; we keep the right to use it elsewhere. If a particular engagement needs a different IP arrangement (full assignment, exclusive license, deeper carve-outs), we'll write that into the engagement contract.
Confidentiality
Anything you share with us in the course of an engagement is confidential. We don't talk about your business, your data, or your systems with anyone outside the engagement, and we don't use your information for anything other than doing the work. If you'd like a formal NDA on top of this, we'll sign a reasonable one. The confidentiality obligation runs both ways: we trust you not to publish our methods and pricing, either.
What we don't promise
We bring care, judgment, and experience to every engagement, and we'll tell you plainly when we're uncertain. But software and systems are complicated, and we can't guarantee that any deliverable will be free of bugs, work in every future environment, or handle every edge case forever. The deliverables are provided "as is" with no implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose beyond what we explicitly agree to in the engagement contract.
Limit of liability
If something goes wrong and we're at fault, our total liability to you is capped at the fees you've paid us under the engagement in question. We're not liable for indirect, consequential, or incidental losses (lost profits, lost data you didn't back up, downstream business impacts). If you need a higher cap for a particular engagement — for example, because the system handles regulated data — we can negotiate that explicitly in the engagement contract, usually with scoped insurance to back it.
Ending an engagement
Either of us can end an engagement at any time, with or without a reason, by saying so in writing (email is fine). If you end it, you owe for the work done up to that point. If we end it, we'll hand over what we've built so far in a usable state and refund anything you've paid for work we haven't started.
Governing law and disputes
These terms and any engagement contract are governed by the laws of the State of Ohio. If we ever disagree, the first step is a real conversation in good faith — usually a phone call. If that doesn't resolve it, we'll try mediation through a mutually agreed mediator before anyone files anything. If a dispute does end up in court, it goes to the appropriate state or federal court in Hamilton County, Ohio, unless the amount in question fits in small-claims court somewhere closer to one of us.
Changes to these terms
If these terms change, the new version takes effect when it's posted, with the date updated at the top. The terms in effect when your engagement contract is signed are the ones that govern that engagement, even if this page changes later.
How to reach us
Email: eric@simplycomplexsystems.com
Phone: (513) 525-5521
Mail: Simply Complex Systems, LLC, Cincinnati, OH 45216