From Keelbase

Ideas for the founder
building something real.

Essays on how small businesses get built now that the work about the work no longer needs the founder.

We're automating the wrong side of the sale.
Latest pieceJune 9, 2026

We're automating the wrong side of the sale.

We're making it easier than ever to buy from small businesses, while leaving the people who run them to carry the hard part alone. The valuable thing to build isn't help for the shopper. It's a crew for the shopkeeper.

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I was right. I had the wrong pieces

June 2, 2026

I was right. I had the wrong pieces

The story of why I'm building Keelbase. I set out to free makers from the layer in the middle. In the end, the layer I couldn't carry was my own.

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You were never building. You were running.

May 26, 2026

You were never building. You were running.

You were the CRM. You were the workflow engine. You were the institutional memory. The system of record was always in your head. That is the thing that is changing.

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Your idea is fine. The math is wrong.

May 18, 2026

Your idea is fine. The math is wrong.

Your idea has been in the drawer for months. Maybe years. It is not waiting for you to be braver. It is waiting for the maths to change.

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The company of one is dead. The company of one with a crew is just getting started.

May 11, 2026

The company of one is dead. The company of one with a crew is just getting started.

There is a kind of business that has always been the dream and the trap at the same time. The constraint behind staying small was staying alone. That constraint is gone.

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Every company needs a keel.