01Insights

Strategic analysis for
ambitious software teams.

Longer-form pieces on how to build, sell, and operate consequential software in 2026. Written for founders, operators and engineering leaders — not for a generic newsletter audience.

LatestStrategy

The AI product engineer is the new full-stack engineer

A role that didn't exist 24 months ago is now the most leveraged hire on the org chart.

Senior product engineering used to mean comfort across the front-end, the back-end, and the database. The bar has moved. The teams shipping consequential software in 2026 demand a fourth competency — turning probabilistic models into reliable product behavior — and the engineers who have it are the highest-leverage hires on the org chart.

Sal Anvarov2026-05-189 min read

Market
The cost of the second pilot
Most AI initiatives die in the gap between the first demo and the second customer.
AI pilots are easier to start than ever and harder to ship than they look. The teams that fail almost all fail in the same place — between the first design partner and the second customer, when the demo has to become a product. This is what that gap actually costs, and how to budget for it.
2026-05-047 minSal Anvarov
Industry
Why "build vs. buy" just flipped
Internal tools used to be too expensive to build. They just stopped being.
For two decades, "buy the SaaS" was the right answer for almost any internal-tool question. The economics that made that true are no longer true. We walk through what changed, what it means for vendor selection, and which categories are most exposed.
2026-04-218 minSal Anvarov

Strategic analysis forambitious software teams.

The AI product engineer is the new full-stack engineer

The cost of the second pilot

Why "build vs. buy" just flipped

Strategic analysis for
ambitious software teams.