Ideas from the work.
Essays, Field Notes, and the few AI links worth your time.
EssayAug 7, 2026
SaaS Replacement Migration Plan: Data, Permissions, Rollback, and Handover
A practical plan for moving from SaaS to software you own without losing data, access controls, or the ability to keep operating if the cutover goes wrong.
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Aug 7, 2026EssayWhat a Forward-Deployed Engineer Does Inside a Private Equity Portfolio CompanyA plain-English guide to the forward-deployed engineer: what the role owns, how it differs from a consultant or software firm, and when a PE-backed company should use one.
Jul 8, 2026EssayLocal Models: When Running AI On Your Own Hardware Is the Smarter BuyWhen is running an open-weight AI model on your own hardware the smarter buy, and when is renting the frontier the right call? A practical guide for CEOs.
Jul 8, 2026EssayOwn the PlumbingMost owner-operated companies have never seen their software bill whole. Owning the workflows that run the business starts with one honest teardown.
Jul 8, 2026EssaySaaS Replacement: What It Is, When It Pays, and What Not to ReplaceA practical SaaS replacement guide from Runpoint Partners: what to own, what to keep renting, how to judge the economics, and how to choose a firm.
Jul 8, 2026EssayThe Alpha LayerIntelligence is becoming a utility. Your edge is the knowledge, data, workflows, and agents you feed it. Own that layer, and rent the model like electricity.
Jul 8, 2026EssayThe Three TestsThree questions a CEO can ask, no consultant in the room, to find where someone else owns a piece of how the company runs. Three yeses is sovereign.
Jul 8, 2026EssayWe Have to Grow Our Way Out of ThisTyler Cowen says AI can lift American growth by the half point the debt math needs. The talk, the numbers behind it, and why the growth will come from the middle.
Jan 15, 2026Essay3 LLMs Go To A Dinner PartyWe put GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini through the ultimate test: not benchmarks, not evals, but whether they'd be good company at a dinner party. The results were surprisingly revealing.
Jan 15, 2026EssayThe IT Objection HandlerEvery AI initiative hits the same wall: IT says no. Here's a field-tested playbook for navigating security reviews, compliance concerns, and the institutional inertia that kills innovation.
Jan 15, 2026EssayThe Operator-EngineerAn operator-engineer combines business judgment, technical fluency, and responsibility for what happens after the software ships.
Jan 15, 2026EssayWhy Executives Should Use Claude CodeMost executives experience AI through polished demos and vendor pitches. Sam Gaddis argues they should be using it in the terminal instead—and explains why that changes everything about how they lead.