Three Beliefs We Didn’t Compromise On

where This year, we decided to do something really difficult: we left a steady paycheck behind to build something we actually believe in.

There were ups and downs. Some heated arguments. Moments of doubt. And yes—more than a few tears (from Julia, not Russell). Because this is hard, but it’s also the best decision we’ve ever made.

We’ve been working together for over five years, and at this point we’re basically telepathic. We usually know what the other one is thinking or feeling before it’s said out loud. That shared context has made building together possible, but it’s not enough on its own.

From the beginning, we aligned on a few core principles that would form the foundation of our business; three beliefs we didn’t compromise on. So as we wrap up the year, we thought we’d share them.

There’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all software, especially when the product is deeply tied to how a business actually operates.

AI makes this possible in unprecedented ways. 

When we build for clients, we don’t start by imposing a system or a predefined way of working. We start by listening. Our clients understand their businesses better than we ever will, and the software needs to reflect that reality.

One example of this was a data platform we built for a nonprofit client. Their workflows, reporting requirements, and constraints were very specific to how they operate daily. Instead of forcing them into a generic dashboard or a standard data model, we built around how they already worked.

It wasn’t the simplest approach, but it was the right one. And more importantly, it was something they actually used.

You can spend months debating what people might do, or you can ship something and see what they actually do.

We learned this the hard way with an early version of Rulo, our app for padel players. We built it, shared it, talked to people about it, and circulated it widely. On paper, it made sense. In practice, very few people were using it in their day-to-day. 

That told us everything we needed to know, and some of our best decisions this year came from feedback that was uncomfortable to hear.

Because we shipped early, we were able to rethink the product entirely. That insight would never have come from more planning. 

This showed up for us repeatedly this year.

Any time we noticed ourselves repeating the same task (even creative ones) we started asking ourselves: Should this be a tool instead?

Over time, we’ve productized parts of our own workflow by building AI-powered tools that remove unnecessary manual work and make our processes more efficient.

One example came up while working on the social media strategy for Rulo. Part of the concept involved posting WhatsApp-style group conversations between friends organizing sports matches, since Rulo is designed to make that experience better than WhatsApp.

Creating those visuals manually was slow. Each one required staging a conversation, taking screenshots, and mocking it up by hand. After doing this more than once, it became clear this wasn’t a good use of time.

So we built a small internal app. Now, we can paste in a conversation and generate a realistic mockup in seconds.

It took longer upfront to build the tool than to do the task manually one more time. But every time after that became faster, simpler, and more consistent.

That tradeoff has been worth it. When you invest in making the thing easier once, you stop paying the cost over and over again.

As we wrap up the year, we just want to say thank you to everyone who’s followed along, shared feedback, and supported us while we figured things out in real time.

This was a foundational year for us. We learned a lot, built a lot, and changed our minds more than once. We’re incredibly excited about what’s coming next, and we’re grateful to have you along for the ride.

More soon. Until then…

Stay curious,

Julia & Russell