The AI skills gap
In 40+ interviews, senior engineers from major banks and consultancies showed strong backgrounds but little real AI fluency. No RAG, no agent frameworks. The gap isn't about skill, it's about exposure.
The blog · since 2015
Insights for founders,
CTOs & investors.
Essays, playbooks and field notes from our CTOs, architects and leads. Written for people shipping real product.
Featured articles
What will the state of AI be like by this time next year?
Pricing strategies in the era of AI: why hourly billing no longer works
5 red flags for VCs when planning to invest in Seed or Series A companies
SaaS due diligence report: 12 learnings for founders that want to secure their next funding round
Things we do in our first weeks as Fractional CTO
Latest posts
Offboarding: The security hole nobody wants to talk about
Offboarding is a crucial part of security. Forgotten accounts and overlooked credentials can expose your systems to risk. This post offers real examples, a checklist approach, and clear steps to make offboarding more reliable across teams.
These questions will be answered after technical due diligence
Investing without technical due diligence is like buying a used car without opening the bonnet. This article demystifies the audit process, shares what red flags we look for, and explains why investors should care deeply about code, processes and product.
Technical due diligence is broken: going beyond the checklist
Most technical due diligence audits focus on code quality and tooling, but the real risk lies in invisible processes, fragile teams, and product chaos, which is why madewithlove audits the full stack of your organisation, from code to culture.
A Rubber Duck’s Guide to Better Engineering
Professor Quacks reminds us that curiosity, accountability, and good teamwork are the bedrock of great engineering.
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.
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.
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.
Lynx: a new contender in cross-platform development?
Lynx could revolutionize cross-platform mobile development with its unique approach and performance benefits. Is it time to switch from React Native or Flutter?
Building a customer support machine: a pragmatic approach for startups
When customer support becomes a blocker for engineering progress, it’s time to build more than just your product—you need to build your support infrastructure. This article explains how to scale support before chaos kills your velocity.
Three cursors walk into a codebase
A cautionary tale about interns, AI tools, and outsourcing delivering 80% of a project—leaving internal teams with the clean-up. Learn why shortcuts often come with hidden costs.
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How we help
Software engineering
Our staff engineers will get your software (back) on track and lead your engineering team. We prepare our exit from day one: our goal is to bring the software and the team to the right level for us to get out again.
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We're the market leader for technical due diligence of SaaS companies in Belgium and The Netherlands, servicing clients all over the world. Investors appreciate our smooth process, sharp opinions and top-notch reports.
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Behind-the-scenes support for your CTO or technical lead to enhance their skills, drive effective change, and grow their teams confidently.
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We can help you find the best talent to join your team. Unlike other recruiters, we are CTOs and software engineers ourselves, and through getting our hands dirty, we know the skills required to make an impact.
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