Writing
Essays, field notes, arguments.
A current series on Intent Engineering — what software discipline looks like when agents are in the loop. Plus a curated archive going back to 2009 covering architecture, founder lessons, and blockchain.
Current Series
The Intent‑Engineering Field Guide
Article 01 · Start here
Why Software Craftsmanship Matters More Now, Not Less
The industry has been trading craftsmanship for velocity. In the AI-augmented era, that trade is coming due.
Archive · Foundations
Architecture & engineering discipline.
The Importance of Abstraction in Cloud Computing
On why platform abstraction is the durable bet. Written when "cloud" still meant something specific — the argument has aged better than expected.
Architectural Fidelity with Globally Distributed Teams
Risk management for software architects working with offshore teams. The principles transfer cleanly to AI agents.
Code Contracts Help Distributed Teams
A fifteen-year-old argument for design-by-contract that turns out to be exactly the right primitive for working with coding agents.
Is Cloud Computing Like Teenage Sex?
On hype cycles and what early-stage adoption of a paradigm actually looks like — written when cloud was where AI is now.
Archive · Founder & Business
Building things from nothing.
One in Twenty: A Founder's Story
How a personal experience with credit-reporting errors led to founding Alekto and what the lean-startup grind actually feels like from the inside.
The CFPB Has Been on a Tear
On the early-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and what an actually adversarial regulator looks like in practice.
Late Payers Not Always At Fault
The reflexive narrative blames the consumer. The data tells a more uncomfortable story about macro forces and structural risk.
TSF Is Now …TSF
A field note from Triangle Startup Factory's rebrand and what it taught about positioning a brand against its own history.
Archive · Blockchain
Be your own bank.
So…, Bail-Ins Are a Thing
On a quiet form of consumer banking risk and why non-custodial wallets exist. A foundational piece behind the Block Boys channel.
Bitcoin Movie Reviews
Reviews of bitcoin-era documentaries, including Deep Web, the Ross Ulbricht story, and the cultural moment they captured.
Block Boys — Be Your Own Bank
Financial-literacy education and blockchain explainers on YouTube. Why depositing money makes you an unsecured creditor — and what to do about it.
Intent Engineering — the newsletter
Irregular dispatches. No filler.
When a new article ships or there's something worth saying about the field, it goes here first.