Private Technology Counsel · Los Angeles

Technology that gets out of your way.

Most IT creates dependency. I architect sovereignty. For four decades I've built systems — now including the AI that runs quietly underneath them — so they hum along invisibly while you focus on the work you're actually here to do. When they don't, something is architecturally wrong. I fix the architecture.

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42 Years in Tech

Zero Surprises

100% Yours

Entertainment · Medical · Creative Professionals

What I Do

I'm not a technician. I'm your consigliere.

I understand your business, I know your environment, and I treat your technology like I'd treat my own. My clients don't call me because something broke. They call me because they're done wasting money on IT that creates more problems than it solves — and they want someone who'll tell them the truth about what needs to change.

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Systems Architecture

Mac and iOS ecosystem design, network infrastructure, cloud solutions, backup and disaster recovery, security, privacy, and HIPAA-aware setups for medical practices. Built to run without constant intervention.

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Strategic Advisory

Technology roadmap planning, vendor evaluation, total cost of ownership analysis. I think 3–5 years ahead so your solutions grow with you instead of trapping you.

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Migration & Transformation

Windows to Mac conversion, legacy system modernization, office relocations, platform consolidation. The transition nobody else wants to quarterback.

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The Right People

I connect you to trusted developers, designers, and specialists. Not for a kickback — because bringing the right people together is what I've done my entire career.

How I Work

Four principles. Zero exceptions.

You own everything.

Your domains, your hosting, your email, your cloud accounts — 100% in your name. I maintain custodial access only. You can fire me tomorrow and take everything with you. That's the system working as designed.

I tell the truth.

I'll tell you when not to spend money. I'll recommend someone else if they're better suited. I'll challenge your assumptions if I think you're heading in the wrong direction. Not everybody likes that. I'm fine with it.

I build for wellness, not sickness.

Most IT operates like reactive medicine — wait until something breaks, treat the symptom, bill for the visit. I architect systems that prevent problems. Quality systems produce loyal clients. Dependency systems produce billing hours. I chose my side decades ago.

You're never held hostage.

The systems I build are stable, documented, and entirely yours — so nothing depends on any one vendor, including me. You stay because the relationship is worth it, not because you're trapped in it. That's a very different thing than dependency, and it's the only kind of long relationship worth having.

Why it matters

For the work you do, technology isn't overhead.

When a system goes down in the middle of a patient appointment, you don't lose an afternoon — you lose the appointment, the booking, and a little of the trust it took years to earn. When client data or patient records are exposed, there's no warning and no undo. The difference between a normal Tuesday and a very bad one is usually something small that nobody was watching. My job is to watch it — so your Tuesdays stay normal.

Results

When a long-standing client faced a legal matter with a hard court deadline, they needed years of business data collected and produced — defensibly, across several separate systems. I designed the process, ran it end to end, and delivered court-ready productions on counsel's timeline. No per-gigabyte vendor fees. No last-minute scramble. The problem, quietly solved. — Litigation-support engagement (confidential)

1998 My longest-running client relationship

100% You own every account, domain, and asset

24/7 On call when it actually matters

Over four decades, my clients have included Grammy-winning recording artists, touring musicians, film and television actors, entertainment executives, law offices, high-end real estate professionals, and Beverly Hills medical practices — most of whom value their privacy as much as their technology.

Clients

What clients say

I hate 'vendors.' I love 'friends.' Vendors overbill you, never work the hours when you need the help, have layers of bureaucracy and pages and pages of rules. Friends bend over backwards to help you. 24/7, on your doorstep when it's needed without you even having to ask. Friends call to chat when it's not even about business. Friends help you when you move. Erik Madsen is a friend. Who happens to be damned good at keeping our very complex computer systems up and running. I love 'friends.'

Fred N. Davis III

CEO, Strategic Perception Inc.

We have counted on Erik for Mac solutions since 1998. MacAlchemist supports our company in three critical areas: repair, software support and strategy. Dependable, knowledgeable and creative, MacAlchemist is the gold standard of Mac support organizations.

Jim Hamm

President, Color Incorporated

In the ever expanding Mac Universe, a person can feel very lost in space when issues come up. Having a life line like Erik makes the journey one that can be made with peace of mind, knowing that there is someone there who knows me, knows what I do, what programs I use most, etc., and can help me and my bandmates stay current in hardware, software and offer a hand in those very rare times when I just can't get shit to work and I'm ready to toss it off a cliff.

Tommy Shaw

STYX / Shaw Blades

Erik Madsen — MacAlchemist, Los Angeles technology consultant

Decades of earned trust

About

One Mission.

I started working with computers at age 11 at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. I convinced the administrators to let me stay after hours because I wasn't done. I'm still not done.

By the early '90s I was on Microsoft's International Excel team, where I deployed the first TCP/IP server on their campus — a Mac IIfx running A/UX. Yes, a Mac. Inside Microsoft. I also started a musicians' group called MS Jam with 7 people. Four years later it had grown to over 250 and become an official corporate resource — bands, entertainment, musical knowledge, and a community where musicians across the company could connect and play. That experience taught me something I've carried ever since: I don't just architect systems. I catalyze transformation.

In 2000, I made a career-defining choice: I stopped supporting Windows machines. I'd watched too many clients spend more on troubleshooting than on growth. I refused to profit from that cycle.

I've been in Los Angeles since 1999, serving creative professionals, medical practices, and high-profile clients — building relationships measured in decades, not transactions. When I'm not the right person for the job, I know who is.

I'm also a third-generation professional musician. My grandfather was a championship fiddler who led his own band, The Stubblejumpers. My mother is an accomplished pianist and violinist. My father founded a jazz quartet in Seattle. I toured as guitarist with Aaron Carter for nearly a decade and continue to collaborate with extraordinary musicians across genres. Music and technology aren't separate pursuits — they're both about the same thing: removing noise until what's left just works.

I don't need any practice fixing your stuff.

Working Together

Three ways to bring me in.

Most relationships start with one and grow into another. Where you begin is up to you.

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Ongoing Care

A managed relationship. I look after your entire environment — proactively and quietly, on a predictable monthly basis — so it simply works and you stop thinking about it. Most clients end up here.

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Projects

A defined outcome with a fixed scope — a migration, a new office, a platform move, a security overhaul. Quoted up front, no meter running, quarterbacked start to finish.

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Advisory

Access to my judgment when you need it — vendor decisions, AI strategy, the call you don't want to get wrong. A trusted voice in your corner, not a vendor on your invoice.