Writing
Notes on building AI and SaaS products: how I work, working with founders, and lessons from my own studio products.
What selling a startup taught me about building one
Lessons from selling Stacks to EBSCO: focus, documentation, owning your IP and building a product someone else can run.
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One app, many chapters: multi-tenant design for programs
How I built Mentor Intelligence so independent mentor program chapters share one app and one database without ever seeing each other's data.
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Test every preview with real users
User testing at AI speed: real users try every preview on real tasks, fixes go worst first, and shipping loops back to testing instead of ending it.
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Thirty years building for the web: what AI changed, and what didn't
After 30+ years and 50+ shipped platforms, what AI has really changed about building for the web, and what it has not changed at all.
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Local-first by default: privacy as a product decision
Building R3ader taught me that privacy is a product decision made early: local-first storage, optional sync and no algorithmic feed.
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What I listen for in discovery calls and walk-throughs
What I ask and watch for when people show me how their work gets done today, who should be in the room, and how it becomes one requirements brief.
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Working backwards: start from the moment that matters
The product thinking behind BackTrack: why "when do I start?" is a better question than "when do I wake up?", and how to find your own.
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