Scope creep: why your software project balloons, and who pays for it
Scope creep is your project's scope growing out of control after it starts. Why it happens on every outsourced build, and how to stop it.
Acceptance criteria: how a non-technical founder defines done
Acceptance criteria, rewritten for the founder paying for the build: a plain-language way to define done for each feature, agreed before the work starts.
Feature prioritization: deciding what to build first
Feature prioritization for a non-technical founder with a long wishlist and a budget for a fraction of it. A method for deciding what to build first, and what…
Web app vs mobile app: the decision before the build
A founder-side framework for choosing between a web app, a PWA, and a native mobile app: where the job happens, what it needs from the device, and the…
Minimum lovable product: where to spend the love
A minimum lovable product isn't a polished MVP. It's an MVP with its love in one place. How a non-technical founder decides where that love goes, and where…
Internal tools: the software your company actually runs on
The software no customer sees but the whole company runs on. A founder's framework for which internal tools to build, which to buy, and what to leave in…
How to protect an app idea: what works, what’s theater
You can't patent an idea, and an NDA won't save you. The real risk isn't theft; it's not owning the code you paid for. Here are the three…
White label: what it is and when it becomes a cage
White label puts you in market in weeks. The trouble starts when the product works: when renting another company's architecture becomes a cage, and how to decide.
How to outsource app development without getting burned
You've decided to outsource your app build. Here's the buyer-side playbook for scoping it, choosing a team, structuring the deal, running the build, and owning the asset, so…
Minimum viable product: the non-technical founder’s guide
An MVP isn't the cheapest version you can ship. It's the leanest one that still proves whether anyone will pay. A four-question framework for scoping your first build.