Writing · Nº 041065 essays
The writing
Ideas from inside the work. Explore technology, entrepreneurship, and the practice of building things that last.
18 essays found · Page 1 of 2
Clear filtersStrategyWhy Agencies Break at Ten Clients Without an OSSomewhere around ten clients, ad hoc coordination collapses. Here is why that threshold breaks agencies and how an agency OS gets you through it.EngineeringHow a Pub/Sub Backplane Scales WebSockets Across ServersScaling WebSockets past one server needs a pub/sub backplane so clients on different machines still get every message. Here is how the backplane pattern works.EngineeringDoes AI-Generated Code Actually Scale?Does AI-generated code scale, or does it fall apart past the prototype? It scales, but only if a spec drives it. Without one, it collapses at the second feature.EngineeringHigh-Volume Livestream Chat: Sample the FirehoseA high-volume livestream chat backend can't deliver every message. Learn why sampling, rate control, and room sharding beat lossless delivery when chat is a firehose.EngineeringWhen to Upgrade Your VPS: Signs You Have Outgrown ItHow do you know when your side project has outgrown its cheap VPS? Here are the real signs to upgrade, and the ones that just mean fix your config first.EngineeringScaling Real-Time Apps Is About Rooms, Not ConnectionsReal-time scaling cost is rooms times fan-out, not raw connection count. Learn why room design, not connection numbers, decides whether your app holds up.EngineeringHow to Handle Backpressure From Slow WebSocket ClientsA slow WebSocket client can take down your server. Handle backpressure with buffer limits, coalescing, and disconnect policies before a slow consumer melts memory.EngineeringReal-Time Leaderboards Are a Ranking and Throttle ProblemA real-time leaderboard at scale is a ranking plus throttle problem, not a broadcast one. Learn why sorted sets and throttled updates beat pushing every score change.OperatingAgency Capacity Planning When AI Does the WorkAI changes agency capacity planning entirely. When production is cheap, capacity is measured in review and judgment hours, not in bodies producing deliverables.OperatingSigns You Have Outgrown Your Business Tool StackSigns you have outgrown your business tool stack: reconciliation labor, disagreeing reports, and hires who exist to run software. Here is how to read them.EngineeringHow Many WebSocket Connections Fit on One Server?Concurrent WebSocket connections per server are bound by memory and fan-out, not CPU. Learn the capacity math to size real-time infrastructure before you scale out.EngineeringReal-Time Backend Mistakes That Break Apps at ScaleThe real-time backend mistakes that look fine in a demo and collapse under load. Here are the failures I see most and how to design around them before launch.