/ blog
Notes from the studio.
Lessons learned, project post-mortems, and the occasional opinion.
Why We Almost Always Go With AWS for Our Cloud Infrastructure Needs
We don't pick AWS because it's exciting. We pick it because it's boring in exactly the ways that matter, and the handful of times we've gone elsewhere taught us why.
#cloud infrastructure#AWS#engineering decisions#studio work#architecture
What We Actually Charge For (And What We Used to Give Away Free)
Our pricing looked nothing like this two years ago. Here's the honest version of how it evolved — what moved from free consultation to billable scope, and the lesson behind each change.
#indie dev#pricing#studio work#business#transparency
What Breaks When You Go From 1 Developer to a Small Team
The moment a solo project gets a second contributor, a dozen things that worked fine in your head stop working. Here's what actually breaks first, and what to build before it does.
#indie dev#engineering#team scaling#process#collaboration
Why Your App's Onboarding Is Losing You Half Your Users Before They See the Value
Most apps lose the majority of new users before those users ever experience the core value. The first three minutes are the most important and most misunderstood part of any product. Here's what breaks onboarding and how to fix it.
#indie dev#onboarding#retention#product#UX
Five Things I'd Build Differently If I Started XenneX Today
Eighteen months in, the decisions that seemed right at the start look different from the other side. Here's what I'd change — not to relitigate the past, but because these are the things I'd tell anyone starting something new right now.
#indie dev#product#retrospective#architecture#lessons learned
Wimbledon Is a Design Masterclass. Here's What Indie Devs Can Learn From It.
Wimbledon hasn't changed its visual identity in 140 years. White clothing, grass courts, dark green and purple — it's the same. Indie devs who keep refreshing their app's visual identity every 18 months could learn something from that.
#indie dev#design#brand#product#wimbledon
The Stack Choices I Made 3 Years Ago. Do I Regret Them?
Mid-2022 was when I locked in the technical decisions that are now baked into everything XenneX ships. Some aged well. Some I live with. A couple I'd do differently if I were starting today.
#indie dev#tech stack#retrospective#react native#iOS#lessons learned
Summer Is When Indie Apps Actually Grow. Here's Why.
The conventional wisdom says summer is a slow period for app downloads. It's wrong. Here's what actually happens to indie app discovery from June through August — and how to position your app to catch it.
#indie dev#app store#growth#iOS#summer
Twelve Years of XenneX. What I'd Actually Tell the Version of Me Who Started This.
XenneX turned 12 this year. Not a milestone post with fake lessons — the real accounting of what was actually hard, what I got wrong, what I'd do differently, and what I'd do exactly the same.
#xennex#indie dev#studio#retrospective#12 years
WWDC 2026: What They Actually Announced (From Someone Who Ships iOS Apps)
Four days ago I published a wishlist for what WWDC needed to deliver for indie developers. The keynote happened yesterday. Here's the scorecard.
#wwdc 2026#indie dev#apple#ios development#xennex
What I'm Actually Hoping WWDC Announces for Indie Developers (And What I've Already Given Up On)
WWDC is three days out. Here's the honest indie dev take — what platform changes would actually matter to someone shipping six apps alone, and what I've learned to stop expecting.
#wwdc#indie dev#apple#ios development#xennex
The Tools I Tried and Abandoned (And Why I Don't Regret Them)
Every 'tools I use' post is marketing. Here's the graveyard — the tools that seemed right and weren't, and what they actually taught me.
#solo founder#indie#tools#software#retrospective
The Actual System I Use to Ship 6 Products Without a Team.
Not a philosophy piece. The literal mechanics — what runs on what schedule, how triage decisions get made, and which products mostly run themselves.
#solo founder#indie#systems#productivity#studio
I've Been Building Software for 12 Years. Nion Lights Is Trying to Change That.
The mental model shift from software to hardware is steeper than I expected. Here's what I'm getting wrong.
#hardware#indie#nion lights#founders#manufacturing
What Memorial Day Means When You Are the Whole Company
There's no out-of-office that covers being the only one. A note on what a long weekend actually feels like when the studio is a one-person operation.
#solo founding#indie#studio#work-life
Why I Build Many Things Instead of One Thing
The conventional advice is to focus. I've spent 12 years doing the opposite. Here's why the portfolio approach works for this studio — and why I'd make the same bet again.
#indie#studio#portfolio#founders#strategy
Game Night: How a Side Project Ended Up With 150,000 Installs
The full story behind the Game Night drinking game app — where it started, what compounded, and what I'd do differently with 150K installs in the rearview.
#indie#game night#retrospective#side project
Building in New Orleans: What Working Outside the Tech Bubble Actually Feels Like
Twelve years running an indie studio outside the SF/NY ecosystem. What that costs, what it quietly gives you, and why I'm still here.
#indie#studio#founders#new orleans#location
The year I stopped patching and started rebuilding
A patch is cheaper today. A rebuild is cheaper next year. The trick is knowing which year you're in.
#retrospective#indie#architecture#redinfinite#rewrite
A decade on Ionic (and why I'd do it again)
Ten years of shipping apps on the same framework. What that consistency actually costs — and what it buys.
#ionic#angular#mobile#stack#retrospectiveHello again — relaunching xennex.app
After a decade on a tired WordPress install, XenneX has a new home. Here's what changed and what's coming.
#meta#studio