Build vs. Buy vs. FDE: The Third Option
The SaaS covers 70%, the custom shop quotes $500k, and neither is right. The third option: an embedded engineer builds the missing 30% on what you have.
Read article → FDE FundamentalsThe Palantir FDE Model, Explained Without the Kool-Aid
Half product engineering, half consulting, billed at software margins. How the Delta role actually worked at Palantir, and which parts are worth stealing.
Read article → Case Studies & StoriesPostmortem: The Prototype That Died in Week Two
A beautiful prototype, polite applause, and a usage dashboard stuck at zero. An honest autopsy of solving the wrong problem, and the pivot that saved it.
Read article → Tools & StackCloudflare Workers for FDEs: Ship at the Edge
Why embedded engineers keep choosing Cloudflare Workers for client builds: no DevOps surface, seconds-fast deploys, and bills a CFO actually likes.
Read article → Prototyping & DeliveryThe One-Week Prototype: What You Can Ship
One working workflow, one user group, real data: the Monday-to-Friday plan and the brutal cuts that make a one-week software prototype real.
Read article → AI & DataRAG for Company Data: A Field Guide
Your RAG pilot failed on document mess, not model choice. The ingestion pipeline, permissions, and eval habits that survive contact with real SharePoint.
Read article → Industry PlaybooksFDE in Healthcare: Shipping Where HIPAA Rules
How an embedded engineer ships small HIPAA-aware tools inside your clinic in weeks: intake, referrals, and no-shows, without the compliance theater.
Read article → Hiring & CareersHiring Your First FDE: A Founder's Field Guide
Hiring your first FDE is a different sport: a four-week search, a paid work sample, and the signals that separate builders from talkers.
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