Notes on building.
Guides on mobile apps, web platforms and AI products. Cost breakdowns, stack comparisons and how we ship.
How Much Does It Cost to Build a Workforce Management Platform in 2026?
Deskless workers are 80% of the global workforce and the platforms that serve them (Deputy, When I Work, Connecteam) are a $12B market. Here is what it actually costs to build one.
Cost & planning · Mar 7, 2026 · 13 min read
How Much Does It Cost to Build an AI Medical Scribe in 2026?
Ambient AI scribes are eating the clinical documentation market, with Abridge, Ambience, and Nuance DAX raising over a billion dollars in 2025. Here is what it actually costs to build one.
Cost & planning · Mar 7, 2026 · 14 min read
How Much Does It Cost to Build a Customer Data Platform (CDP) in 2026?
Building your own CDP used to be reserved for unicorns. In 2026, the tooling has matured enough that an MVP runs $120K to $350K and a full production platform lands between $350K and $1M.
Cost & planning · Mar 7, 2026 · 13 min read
How to Build a Bookkeeping and Accounting SaaS Like QuickBooks
A complete engineering playbook for building a QuickBooks or Xero alternative that accountants actually trust. Covers ledgers, bank feeds, AI categorization, OCR, tax logic, and reporting.
How to build · Mar 7, 2026 · 15 min read
How to Build a Meditation and Mindfulness App in 2026
Calm and Headspace made meditation apps feel like a solved category. They are not. The Apple Watch era, AI-personalized content, and biometric integration have reset the bar. Here is how to build one that competes.
How to build · Mar 6, 2026 · 12 min read
How to Build an HR Management and Payroll System in 2026
An HR and payroll platform looks like a standard SaaS until you try to implement the payroll engine. Then you discover why Gusto and Rippling raised nine figures. Here is a pragmatic blueprint for building without burning your budget.
How to build · Mar 6, 2026 · 13 min read
How to Build an AI-Powered Resume Builder and ATS in 2026
Every job seeker wants AI to write their resume. The problem is that generic AI writes generic resumes that get filtered out by ATS keyword matchers. Here is how to build one that actually gets interviews.
How to build · Mar 6, 2026 · 12 min read
Drizzle vs Kysely vs Prisma: Type-Safe SQL for TypeScript in 2026
Prisma was the default. Drizzle and Kysely now beat it on speed and edge support. The right pick depends on whether you want a query builder, an ORM, or something in between.
Technology · Mar 6, 2026 · 12 min read
Rust vs Go vs Elixir: Modern Backend Languages for Startups in 2026
Pick Rust for raw speed. Pick Go for boring reliability. Pick Elixir for fault tolerance and concurrency. Picking the wrong one for your startup costs months. Here is the honest comparison.
Technology · Mar 6, 2026 · 13 min read
ShadCN vs Mantine vs Chakra: React Component Libraries 2026
ShadCN won the React UI war by not being a library at all. Mantine and Chakra are still excellent for the cases where copy-paste is wrong. Here is the honest comparison for new projects.
Technology · Mar 6, 2026 · 12 min read
Biome vs ESLint + Prettier: JavaScript Tooling for Startups in 2026
ESLint and Prettier ruled JavaScript tooling for a decade. Biome is 10 to 100x faster and covers most of what they do in one tool. Here is the honest comparison and migration guide.
Technology · Mar 6, 2026 · 12 min read
How to Calculate ROI on AI Features: A Founder's Playbook for 2026
73% of founders cannot articulate the ROI of their AI features. The ones who can raise money faster, ship better roadmaps, and survive board scrutiny. Here is the framework for calculating it honestly.
AI & strategy · Mar 6, 2026 · 12 min read