BLOG

Writing

Once or twice a month, on running a web maintenance company and building products at the same time — including the months it goes badly.

15 SEP. 2021 · WHAT NOBODY TELLS YOU

A football club is a small company run by people with day jobs

From the outside, a grassroots club looks like a hobby. From the inside, it has income, payments, members and paperwork, all run by volunteers after work. That changes what software it needs.

Leer más →

16 AUG. 2021 · MONEY & INDEPENDENCE

My time is the only thing I can't invoice twice

Code can be reused. Templates can be reused. An hour of my day can only be sold once. Why every client hour is an hour that doesn't go into the product, and why I'm fine with that.

Leer más →

15 JUL. 2021 · MINDSET

Selling to small businesses means selling to someone who's tired

The person running a guesthouse, a bar or a club isn't your user persona. They're someone who's been on their feet since seven. Why we design and sell for tiredness first.

Leer más →

15 JUN. 2021 · MINDSET

The loneliness of being the only one who knows how it all works

Being the only one who understands the system feels like power for about a week. After that, it feels like being the only one with the keys to a building that's always on fire.

Leer más →

14 MAY 2021 · MINDSET

Free courses, late nights and a degree: how I really learned to build

People ask whether I'm self-taught or went to university. Both. And neither taught me the part that mattered most. Three schools, and what each one was good for.

Leer más →

15 APR. 2021 · WHAT NOBODY TELLS YOU

Projects pay the bills. Products pay for freedom

A project is a promise with an end date. A product is a promise with no end at all. Why we're keeping the agency to pay for the product, instead of choosing one.

Leer más →

15 MAR. 2021 · WHAT NOBODY TELLS YOU

I don't trust ideas that come from a napkin

Napkin ideas are great at dinner. They're terrible at paying the bills. Why I'd rather build from a problem a client already has than from one I imagined.

Leer más →

15 FEB. 2021 · MINDSET

I'm a developer who had to learn to sell

Code doesn't care if you're shy. Clients do. How a developer who learned to code alone ended up selling, and why I stopped calling it selling.

Leer más →

26 JAN. 2021 · BUILDING PRODUCTS

Build first what hurts most when it breaks

When you have little time to build, order is strategy. The best rule I know isn't what looks best in a demo, but what does the most damage when it fails.

Leer más →