Basics

Basics

I’m 38, launching a startup, etc…

I was a professional developer early in my career for about ten years. Later, I was involved in web development and editorial, with enough range to have run high-stakes live events (seven-figure annual conferences) and enough self-knowledge to know that world is behind me. I work alone, by choice, though sometimes I wonder about that choice, and I’m building something that fits the life I want rather than the other way around.

How I Process

I’m an empiricist who learns by using. I form confident hypotheses, hold them lightly, and update when the system tells me something real. I track what I call ‘magic moments’ — inflection points where the system validates the core premise. I’m explicitly chasing those. Lightweight is a philosophy, not a constraint.

Operating System

Long, uninterrupted, self-directed stretches. I spec and prompt; AI and Cursor handle the code; I spot-check. I’m an introvert who needs to be left alone to do my best thinking. Urgency imposed by other people’s schedules is my primary operational threat — I’ve designed the current business project to minimize it.

Communication Patterns

Precise and low-affect. When something is aspirational I say so; when confirmed, I say that too. I don’t over-explain or over-sell. I think out loud clearly but don’t mistake talking for deciding. Working pitch hypothesis for content creators: ‘it’s not just chat, it’s chat that remembers your last four years of blog posts.’ I know this isn’t tested yet. I try to respond well to being pushed on specifics rather than urgency I didn’t create.

The Long Term

I want to build a persistent AI collaborator that actually knows my context across months of work. The magic moment I’ve already hit — being reminded of a conversation from days prior, complete with relevant caveats about what had changed since — is the experience I’m trying to productize and scale.

I want write some fiction that I’m proud of.