Stephan Smith

Stephan Smith

Boston-based serial tech founder.

Resource Restriction is Great!

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
Stephan Smith
Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights
Chessboard Chaos!

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
Stephan Smith
Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights
Vegas vs. Berlin: What I Learned About How Clients Want to Engage

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
Stephan Smith
Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights
Are Developers Becoming Obsolete?

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
Stephan Smith
Low Code Hack #1

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
Stephan Smith
Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights
Friday Newsletter

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
Stephan Smith
Low CodeLow Code
Beehiiv as my login?

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
Stephan Smith
Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights
AI Coding Patterns & Rules of Engagement

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
Stephan Smith
Ai Coding Tools

Ai Coding Tools

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

Stephan Smith
Stephan Smith
Weekly InsightsWeekly Insights
Week 2: No Code February

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
Stephan Smith