Engineering notes on AI, SaaS platforms and building software that ships.
Written from what we run in production across our own products and our clients'. For the long-form pieces, see Insights.
Automotive Repair Software: Estimates, Parts, and Approvals
Repair shop software fails when it treats an estimate as a quote instead of a contract that reopens every time a tech finds more damage.
How to Run a Vendor Pilot That Actually Tests Something
A demo tells you a vendor can present. A pilot, structured right, tells you whether they can actually build your software.
Rate Limiting a Free Tier Without Losing Real Users
A free tier without cost-aware rate limits is a standing invitation to bots, scrapers, and card testers.
Caching and Prompt Reuse Are the Cheapest AI Cost Cuts You Have
Before you swap models to save money, check how many tokens you're paying to re-send that never actually change.
Bills of Materials and the Real Cost of Getting Them Wrong
A bill of materials is a versioned graph with effective dates, not a parts list, and generic inventory software rarely gets that structure right.
Do You Need a CTO, a Contractor, or a Studio to Build This?
A practical decision rule for founders choosing between a full-time CTO, a solo contractor, and a studio team.
Usage Metering That Still Holds Up When a Customer Disputes It
When a customer challenges an invoice, an aggregate number isn't a defense — the raw events behind it are.
Human-in-the-Loop Review Design People Actually Use
Most AI review queues get rubber-stamped fast. Here's how to route by risk, design the screen, and close the loop so human review actually works.
Nonprofit and Membership Software on a Budget That's Actually Small
Restricted funds, anniversary renewals, and IRS receipt rules break generic CRMs long before a nonprofit's budget runs out.
The Real Cost of Technical Debt, Measured in Roadmap Months
Technical debt isn't a code smell. It's a tax rate on every feature you ship after the one that created it.
The Auth and SSO Questions Every B2B Buyer Will Ask
Enterprise buyers ask the same three identity questions before they sign; build the answers into the schema, not the sales deck.
Why Streaming Tokens Beats Waiting for a Full AI Answer
How time-to-first-token, not total latency, determines whether an AI feature feels fast or feels broken in production.