How Rainmakers Started

In 2014, I was working in tech and not particularly proud of what I was building.

The decision to start something

My name is Akel Aguad. I started Rainmakers because I wanted to work on projects that mattered to the people involved. Not just technically interesting problems. Things with real stakes for someone.

I wasn't sure what form that would take. The early clients were small businesses and startups. People who needed a website to actually work, not just exist. Over time, we started working with nonprofits and news organizations. The stakes were different there. The work felt different.

What ten years of this looks like

We're still a small team. We've stayed small deliberately. Large agencies have structural incentives that don't always align with clients: keeping people billable, renewing contracts, expanding scope. We've tried to avoid building those incentives into how we work.

The clients who've stayed with us longest are the ones where the work has genuinely mattered. A news outlet serving immigrant communities. A nonprofit that's expanded its reach. Small businesses that have grown because their site actually converts.

We're proud of those outcomes.

What we look for in new work

Clients who know what they're trying to do, even if they don't know exactly how to do it. Work that has real stakes. People who want honest feedback, not just execution.

Talk to us.