Writing · Nº 041065 essays
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Clear filtersEngineeringHow to Spin Up a New App in a Day on a Shared FoundationSpinning up a new app in a day is the real test of a shared foundation. If a new product takes a week to bootstrap, your foundation is not compounding yet.OperatingWhere a Solo Operator Actually Finds LeverageLeverage is the whole game for a solo operator running many companies. Here are the real sources, ranked, and why one person can only scale on multipliers not effort.ThesisThe Myth That Solo Operating Means Doing Everything YourselfSolo operating is a decision-ownership model, not a do-it-all model. Contractors, agents, and vendors are fine. What stays yours is judgment, not labor.StrategyWhen to Fork a Product Out of the Shared FoundationWhen should a product leave the shared foundation? When its needs diverge so far that the foundation costs more than it saves. Here are the signals to fork out.OperatingHow to Run a Portfolio of Companies SoloThe operating system for one person running many ventures at once. What you centralize, what you template, what you refuse, and where the shared foundation pays the rent.OperatingHow to Avoid Tool Sprawl Running a Solo PortfolioPer-company tool choices are the hidden tax on a solo portfolio. Run every company on the same small stack, and treat a new tool as a cost, not a feature.EngineeringOne Postgres Box Under Every App I RunWhy I run one self-hosted Postgres box under an entire portfolio instead of a managed database per app, and how shared Postgres cuts cost and lock-in at once.OperatingHow I Decide Which Venture Gets Attention TodayWith twenty companies and one operator, triage is everything. Here is how I decide which venture gets attention today, ranked by leverage and decay, not by noise.EngineeringBuild an Internal Framework or Use Off the Shelf?Should you build an internal framework or use off-the-shelf tools for a portfolio foundation? The answer is thin glue over standard tools, not a homegrown framework.EngineeringOne Identity Layer Across Every Product You RunA single identity layer across products means one place for auth, sessions, and users. Here is why a shared identity layer beats per-product auth in a portfolio.OperatingWhy I Don't Hire a Team, Even Though I CouldThe honest reasons a solo operator running twenty companies does not hire a team: coordination cost, diluted standards, and where a team would actually make things worse.EngineeringA Shared UI Component Library Across ProductsA shared UI component library across products cuts build time and keeps a portfolio coherent. Here is what to share, what to leave per-product, and how to avoid rigidity.