The peloton problem
Senior engineers carry the front of every decision, every code review, every on-call shift. The peloton runs best when roles rotate. When the star eventually leaves, someone else needs to know what wind feels like.
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
A Rubber Duck’s Guide to Better Engineering: Part 2
Professor Quacks is back with five more principles for better engineering: build tools that help, move with healthy urgency, plan wisely, work well with others, and lead by example. These aren’t just coding tips, they’re culture-shaping lessons.
What should tech companies do to hire a more diverse workforce?
Building diverse tech teams takes more than good intentions. From job ads and interviews to flexible work and international hiring, discover how we try to embed inclusion into every stage of the hiring process, subtly, sustainably, and deliberately.
You can't delegate accountability: what the NIS2 directive means for boards
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: board members can’t delegate accountability. Not for budgets. Not for legal compliance. And no longer for cybersecurity.
Learning from OSS: configuring your Link component via a Provider (Braid)
Learn how SEEK’s Braid Design System uses a linkComponent provider to flexibly support routing across React apps. A great pattern for design systems, and one madewithlove engineers keep coming back to when building scalable front-end libraries.
Smart is not enough: three criteria to select AI tools
When selecting AI tools, companies must go beyond productivity and consider compliance, community support, and team management. Discover madewithlove’s pragmatic approach to responsible, scalable AI adoption.
Using Cursor background agents
Cursor’s new background agents feature lets Pro users spin up cloud-based environments that clone your repo, complete small tasks in parallel, and create PRs without touching your local setup.
Redux is legacy - modern ways to approach state in React
Stuck in Redux boilerplate for a simple React task? You're not alone. Learn how tools like Tanstack Query, nuqs, and react-hook-form help you replace Redux with simpler, more maintainable solutions—backed by madewithlove's engineering expertise.
Your next hire will use AI in their technical test. Obviously.
As AI becomes a standard part of every developer’s toolkit, tech hiring needs to evolve from policing its use to understanding how candidates apply, evaluate, and collaborate with it.
Claude as tester using Playwright and GitHub MCP
Claude can now test your frontend. With a bit of config, the Playwright MCP server lets Claude run browser tests, find bugs, and even generate reusable test code. This could be a game-changer for startups without QA.
Fitness for purpose: taking risks with quality
When product teams obsess over perfect quality, they risk standing still, but by embracing a 'fit for purpose' mindset and planning for instability, they can move faster and smarter.
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.
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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.
Learn more about software engineeringCTO as a service
Our CTOs in residence (or fractional CTOs) inject technical leadership into your team, ensuring the technical aspect of your business gets exactly the right attention.
Learn more about CTO as a serviceAuditing
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.
Learn more about auditingCTO Coaching
Behind-the-scenes support for your CTO or technical lead to enhance their skills, drive effective change, and grow their teams confidently.
Learn more about CTO coachingRecruiting
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.
Learn more about recruitingProduct management
Sometimes your struggles go beyond the technical. Do you need help evaluating the roadmap or sharpening the vision? What should you build in order to scale? Our product management experts know the way.
Learn more about product management