About

I'm Dan Brown, a software engineer who's spent 15+ years building products from scratch.

I've been a CTO, a founding engineer, and a solo builder. I've shipped MVPs in weeks and scaledplatforms to tens of thousands of users. Along the way, I've made every mistake in the 0→1playbook—and learned what actually works.

Now I'm exploring how AI tools change the game for small teams and solo builders. Not the hype.Not the hand-wringing. The practical stuff: workflows that ship faster, decisions that matter,and patterns that compound.

What I Write About

• AI-Augmented Development — How to use Claude Code, MCP servers, and other tools to ship faster without losing quality.
• 0→1 Strategy — The patterns and anti-patterns of early-stage building. When to validate, when to ship, when to pivot.
• Technical Architecture — Making good decisions with limited resources. Rails in 2026, event sourcing, monolith-first.
• Small Company Playbook — Operational lessons from the trenches. Hiring, managing contractors, knowing when enough is enough.

Why "Tiny Little Robot Friends"?

Because that's what AI tools are at their best: collaborators, not replacements. Junior devs whonever get tired. Research assistants who read faster than you. Pair programmers who don't judgeyour TODO comments.

The future isn't AI vs. humans. It's humans with tiny robot friends building things that matter.