How We Work
Our encoded taste. This is what makes us us.
Philosophy
What we believe about how things should work.
Toolmakers make tools that make things
The urge to make a thing that makes other things is fundamental. A project without a few custom tools probably isn't pushing hard enough. We build our tools, use them with customers, and leave them with capability—not just deliverables.
By construction, not mitigation
Don't patch problems. Remove them by design. If a workflow is error-prone, redesign it so errors can't happen. If a decision is hard, change the system so it's obvious.
Customer obsession
Work backwards from outcomes, not features. The question isn't "what can we build?" but "what does success look like for them?" Everything else derives from that.
Ideas are free, implementation is hard
Ben Thompson publishes aggregation theory for free. Connecting those dots to a specific company's situation, building the infrastructure, installing the culture—that's the work. We're not selling insight. We're selling friction reduction in adoption.
The consulting process IS the product development process
We don't analyze and recommend. We build alongside. The same tools we use to understand your situation become the tools you use to operate.
Constraints
What we won't do, even if we could.
We don't produce decks
Analysis without implementation is theater. If we can't build it with you, we shouldn't be recommending it.
We don't do T&M body augmentation
Selling hours incentivizes slow work. We're aligned on outcomes, not timesheets.
We don't build what you tell us
If you already know exactly what to build, you don't need us. We facilitate reinvention, not requirements execution.
We don't work with "optimization" buyers
Customers focused on headcount reduction and cost optimization are better served by Salesforce. We work with companies that want to control their destiny and see this as a moment to reinvent.
We don't pretend AI is magic
No hype. No promises we can't keep. AI is powerful but has limits. We're honest about what's possible and what's not.
Output Contracts
What "good" looks like for our deliverables.
Encoded taste, not just strategy docs
We leave you with structured artifacts: philosophy documents, constraints, output contracts, behavioral rules. These shape AI systems. They're not shelf-ware.
Operational tooling, not prototypes
What we build should work in production. Demos that only work in controlled conditions are worthless.
Capability transfer, not dependency
Success is when you don't need us anymore. We train your people, transfer methodology, leave documentation. The goal is to make ourselves unnecessary.
Factory infrastructure, not features
We build the machinery that produces outputs continuously—not one-off features that stand alone.
Behavioral Rules
How we engage, communicate, decide.
Start by doing, not thinking
Innovation is a verb. Bias toward building something small and learning, not planning something big and waiting.
Low cognitive load
Front-load the thinking so execution is obvious. Reduce decision points. Make the right path the easy path.
Calm, direct, no fluff
We communicate clearly. No performative enthusiasm. No jargon to sound smart. We assume intelligent counterparts who want the truth.
Show, don't tell
The demonstration is the proof. If we claim our tools work, we use them in front of you. If we claim a methodology is effective, we run it together.
Self-selection is the best qualification
We sprinkle insight and this storyline through conversations. Customers either get it or they don't. Those focused on controlling destiny self-select in. Those focused on optimization self-select out. Both are valid—we're just not right for everyone.
The Recursive Property
This document is itself an example of what we help customers create.
You're reading our encoded taste. We use this to train our own tooling, shape our own AI systems, and maintain coherence as we scale.
When we work with you, we help you create your version. Your philosophy. Your constraints. Your output contracts. Your behavioral rules.
Then those become infrastructure that shapes everything you build.