Blog
What we have learned building data platforms, AI features, apps and websites, written for the people who pay for them.
Data & AI
How to plan an AI project that makes it to production
How to plan an AI project that ships: pick a task with a clear before and after, test with real examples, build an evaluation set, plan costs and roll out with review.
How we stop AI from making things up
The five layers we use to keep AI-written content accurate, what they cannot catch, and what to ask a developer who proposes an AI feature.
Replacing spreadsheet reports with dashboards your team trusts
Why spreadsheet reporting breaks, and how to replace it with dashboards people trust: define each metric once, connect the sources, name owners and check the data.
Running AI on the user's computer: what we learned building Focal
How Focal makes captions and finds private details with AI that never leaves the computer, and when on-device AI beats a cloud API for your own product.
What is a data platform, and does your company need one?
A plain-English guide to data platforms: what the parts do, the signs your company needs one, the signs it doesn't yet, how to start small and what to ask a vendor.
What it costs to run AI features in a real product
What drives the bill for an AI feature, why it surprises people, and the techniques we use in our own product to keep it predictable.
Planning a project
Build or buy: when custom software beats another subscription
When off-the-shelf software is the right call, when custom software pays off, the middle path of buying and integrating, and a checklist to help you decide.
Consultant, agency or in-house team: who should build your software?
A fair comparison of in-house teams, agencies, offshore teams, freelancers and senior consultants who build, with a table and the questions to ask before you sign.
What a discovery phase should give you before a big software build
What a software discovery phase is, the deliverables you should get from one, how long it should take relative to the build, and the red flags to watch for.
Engineering
Building a 3D website that Google can still read
Why animated and 3D websites often rank badly, and the specific choices we made so our own WebGL homepage stays readable to search engines.
How we built Focal, a GPU screen recorder for Windows
The architecture behind Focal, our Windows screen recorder: raw capture without the cursor, input logged as data, a GPU-only video path and measured export speeds.
We cut our homepage script from 137 KB to 12 KB
How we shrank the script behind our WebGL homepage animation to a tenth of its size, what failed first, and when the approach is worth it.
Buying a website
Custom website vs Wix, Squarespace or WordPress: which do you need?
A fair comparison of website builders, WordPress and custom sites, with a clear guide to which one fits your business and budget.
Do I need an app or a website?
The difference between a website, a web app and a mobile app, and a quick way to decide which one your business idea needs.
How much does a custom website cost in 2026?
What drives the price of a custom website, what you get at each budget, and the running costs most people forget to plan for.
Website redesign checklist: how not to lose your Google rankings
A step-by-step checklist, in the order things happen, for keeping your search traffic when you replace your website.
Why is my website slow? Seven causes and how to check each
Seven common reasons a business website loads slowly, how to check each one with free tools, and whether you or a developer should fix it.
Miami
Local SEO for Miami businesses: a plain-English guide
How Google picks the local businesses it shows, and nine steps in priority order, most of them free, to help nearby customers find you.
Should your Miami business have a Spanish website?
How to decide whether your Miami business needs a Spanish version of its website, and how to build one properly if it does.
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