FDE vs. Another SaaS Subscription: 5-Year Math
The five-year total cost of SaaS vs. custom build — with the hidden charges nobody puts in the first-year budget.
Read article → FDE FundamentalsWhat an FDE Is Not (A Rant in Six Parts)
The FDE role gets misunderstood in six predictable ways. Here's the corrective rant.
Read article → Change ManagementThe Adoption Resistance Story
Why the best internal tool can still fail — and how one team overcame adoption resistance.
Read article → DevOps & EdgeEdge Deployment Latency: A Field Guide
How to measure, benchmark, and optimize edge deployment latency for real users.
Read article → UI EngineeringBorrowed UX Patterns That Speed Up Internal Tools
Five UX patterns stolen from consumer apps that make internal tools actually usable.
Read article → AI & DataBuild vs. Buy for AI Features: The Framework
SaaS copilots are fast but generic. Custom AI fits your data but costs more upfront. Here's the decision framework.
Read article → Industry PlaybooksThe FDE Playbook for Wealth Management and RIAs
RIAs run on custodial platforms that cover 70% of their needs. A forward deployed engineer fills the reporting, rebalancing, and portal gaps.
Read article → Hiring & CareersEquity for FDEs: What's Fair, What's Fiction
FDE equity compensation at startups: realistic ranges, what to negotiate, and why 'we're all owners' is usually fiction.
Read article →