A Rubber Duck’s Guide to Better Engineering
Professor Quacks reminds us that curiosity, accountability, and good teamwork are the bedrock of great engineering.
Enhancing software, elevating teams.
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What would it cost to rebuild this software from scratch?
Evaluating the cost of rebuilding software from scratch involves more than counting development hours; it requires recognising the invisible value of user feedback, lessons learned, and embedded experience.
Making progress without a technical leader
Startups without a technical co-founder can still build great products, but only if they avoid the usual traps of overengineering, needless infrastructure, and late developer involvement.
AI writes bad code, but what if that’s the good news?
Should engineers fear messy AI code or embrace it as a tool for fast product validation? This story reveals why your cleanest code might not be your most valuable contribution. Why founders will use AI generated code more and more for MVPs and prototyping and why engineers should embrace this.
Pricing strategies in the era of AI: why hourly billing no longer works
AI tools are changing how agencies work and how they should bill. Fewer hours, faster results, and ballooning token costs are reshaping agency economics. We dive into what comes next, and why value pricing might be the way forward.
Due diligence for AI startups: what actually matters
Founders and investors due diligence: how to dig beneath the “AI-powered” facade and verify that their systems won’t break in secret.
The enshittification of the internet: are you building value or friction?
AI agents shouldn’t become CAPTCHA solvers: discover how monetisation-driven UX patterns have turned the web into a hostile environment and what honest design can do to reverse the trend.
5 red flags for VCs when planning to invest in Seed or Series A companies
Discover the five most common technical-due-diligence red flags—from undersized or misaligned teams to “just-about-working” codebases—that VCs must spot before writing a cheque.
Why front-end rewrites are more common than refactors
Why do engineering teams keep rewriting frontends? Let’s explore the leadership bias and tech churn that makes refactors feel harder—yet ultimately more sustainable.
