What Loot Boxes and Battle Passes Teach Every Builder
Game monetization splits cleanly into predictable-and-fair and random-and-manipulative. Regulators are banning the second — and the same line runs through how any product charges.
Notes written while doing the work.
Technical posts, product decisions, and honest observations — written while building, not after.
Product decisions
Pricing, product choices, and what I've learned trying to make things people actually buy.
Subscription Fatigue and the Real Cost of Dark Patterns
Retention won through dark patterns is debt. It builds regulatory and reputational liability and makes every future price increase impossible.
Three-Tier Pricing That Actually Converts
Three tiers beat two by 27%; four or more do worse. The middle tier is the anchor — and most founders price the whole thing 30% too low.
The Freemium Conversion Rate Nobody Warns You About
The industry average free-to-paid conversion is 2–5%, not 40%. Spotify is the outlier you can't copy — and the cost to serve a free user decides if freemium even works.
What to Make Free, and What to Charge For
The value gate is one decision: free should solve the core problem well; paid should remove friction the user has already felt.
The Future of Personal Websites Is APIs
Your website should not only be visited. It should be callable.
I Turned My Personal Hub Into an Agent-Readable Surface
A personal site should not only be browsed by people. It should also be legible to the tools people use to discover, evaluate, and remember work.
Choosing Between ResistGate and Cold Turkey for Distraction Blocking
Cold Turkey is for hard lockdowns. ResistGate is for breaking the reflex before the site opens.
Building Product Revenue Funnels in Public
A product page is not proof by itself. The funnel needs visible outcomes, demo evidence, and a reason to stay connected.
Legacy UI is the New Tech Debt
An API can handle the whole thing.