Field notes & essays
In-depth, honest articles on custom software, CRM automation, HubSpot, integrations, and the judgement calls in between — written from real work, not summaries.
"Maintainable" gets used as a vague compliment. Here's a concrete, non-technical explanation of what it really means — and why it's a financial decision, not an aesthetic one.
Most teams ship AI features on gut feel — it looked good in a few tests, so it went live. Then a prompt tweak silently breaks something and nobody notices. Evaluation is what turns AI from a gamble into engineering.
Bigger isn't automatically better in software. Here's an honest look at what you gain — and what you actually give up — working with a senior-led boutique that scales through a trusted network, rather than a large agency.
A CRM migration that arrives without its history is only half a migration. Field notes on bringing the past across intact — and on why the mapping, not the moving, is where the whole job actually lives.
The database you pick early is one of the hardest things to change later. Here's a practical, non-dogmatic guide to matching the tool to the shape of your data.
Custom software is sometimes exactly right and sometimes an expensive mistake. Here's how to decide honestly — including when the answer is to build nothing, and why the best answer is usually a bit of both.
Everyone can wire an LLM to a vector database in an afternoon. The gap between that demo and a system people trust is almost entirely in retrieval — and retrieval is where most RAG projects quietly fail.
Taking over software you didn't write is disorienting and easy to do badly. Field notes on understanding a system before you touch it — and on resisting the rewrite that feels so obviously right and so often isn't.
Two systems need to stay in sync — do you push events or pull for changes? A practical guide to the trade-offs, and why the honest answer is often a bit of both.
24 articles