The Low Code CTO

I have "Code Brain"

Paul Krugman outlined the economics of "Car Brain" in his recent article about the congestion economics of cars, commuters, and the city of New Year. That concept resonated in a huge way!

We need to refactor again!

This is the battle cry of many developers when faced with technology changes, recurring bugs, or scaling issues.

Ai Coding Tools

Exploration of how much I can get AI to replace my "Code Brain" approach to building solutions.

Economics of Code #1

AI and low-code, in conjunction, are changing the core math for how 'code' is generated, priced, and sold. I am exploring how this math is changing, learning as I go.

Essentialism for Founders

Low-code and Marcus Aurelius had a gentle battle in my startup brain. One quote triggered an insight, which triggered a pivot and then lead to Ai Accelerator that sold out in hours.

Resource Restriction is Great!

No founder I know doesn't need more funding. In the back of every startup founder's brain is the wish to get the funding problem off their backs and work without distraction. It's unfair to say, stop, and embrace scarcity as a superpower.

Latest Posts

Econ of CodeEcon of Code

Economics of Code #1

AI and low-code, in conjunction, are changing the core math for how 'code' is generated, priced, and sold. I am exploring how this math is changing, learning as I go.

Stephan Smith

Essentialism for Founders

Low-code and Marcus Aurelius had a gentle battle in my startup brain. One quote triggered an insight, which triggered a pivot and then lead to Ai Accelerator that sold out in hours.

Stephan Smith

Resource Restriction is Great!

No founder I know doesn't need more funding. In the back of every startup founder's brain is the wish to get the funding problem off their backs and work without distraction. It's unfair to say, stop, and embrace scarcity as a superpower.

Stephan Smith

Econ of CodeEcon of Code

Economics of Code #1

AI and low-code, in conjunction, are changing the core math for how 'code' is generated, priced, and sold. I am exploring how this math is changing, learning as I go.

Stephan Smith

Essentialism for Founders

Low-code and Marcus Aurelius had a gentle battle in my startup brain. One quote triggered an insight, which triggered a pivot and then lead to Ai Accelerator that sold out in hours.

Stephan Smith

Resource Restriction is Great!

No founder I know doesn't need more funding. In the back of every startup founder's brain is the wish to get the funding problem off their backs and work without distraction. It's unfair to say, stop, and embrace scarcity as a superpower.

Stephan Smith

Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights

Chessboard Chaos!

The last two months have been stressful for many founders working out of Venture Lane. EdTech startups have taken the brunt of the funding changes for Universities. It's not over yet, but there is a silver lining!

Stephan Smith

Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights

Vegas vs. Berlin: What I Learned About How Clients Want to Engage

I reworked my fractional CTO practice by changing my mindset. I had been operating like a German Casino, and missing the mark, but I needed to be more like Las Vegas. Make it stupid easy for a client to hire and pay.

Stephan Smith

Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights

Are Developers Becoming Obsolete?

The next wave of software builders won't know how to code. And that's ok. The challenge for tech leaders will be bringing their work into a company's technology stack.

Stephan Smith

Low Code Hack #1

A good low-coder is a cheap low-coder. Cheap means fast. It means you get to revenue and outcomes faster. It means you don't spend time and money on complexity. No matter how easy Google and Microsoft make getting started, it's still complex.

Stephan Smith

Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights

Friday Newsletter

Ok this week, I got off the Ai horse for a bit. I am a bit Ai saddle sore, if thats a thing. Turns out there is a limited, that even I can tired of. This week I did some reading, explored the Magma AI Agent Platform and built out a Beehiiv Identity solution. Happy Friday everyone!

Stephan Smith

Low CodeLow Code

Beehiiv as my login?

A key part of startups’ technology stack is how they approach public vs private features. Usernames and passwords are the logical starting point. Other ways require a little imagination but lower the impacts on roadmap and tech spend.

Stephan Smith

Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights

AI Coding Patterns & Rules of Engagement

Scrambled codebases, competing NPM packages, duplication code and a high token burn are all part of the learning curve. I remain very focused on driving my code utility rate as high as possible.This is a rolling set of learning...

Stephan Smith

Ai Coding Tools

Exploration of how much I can get AI to replace my "Code Brain" approach to building solutions.

Stephan Smith

Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights

Week 2: No Code February

Week 2 was all about remapping a code approach to an AI code approach, with little learning lessons. Big insights are on the value of planning prompts to get better outcomes.

Stephan Smith

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