Most software is built for everyone. What you actually need is built for you — faster, cheaper, and owned outright.
Every tool I've replaced cost more than the custom version — and the custom version fits better, does more, and belongs to you.
Every project started with a conversation about what wasn't working.
Replaced ConvertKit with a fully custom email pipeline — drip sequences, subscriber management, reply tracking. Sends every Monday at 8am without touching a button.
mindfulmondays.chrismasiello.com →Custom pipeline tracker for a retained search firm. Candidate tracking, outreach status, endorsement scheduling — all in one place, built around their actual workflow.
Live dashboard →80+ historical figures, daily entries, reader feedback system, PWA mobile app — built to write and validate a book while building its audience simultaneously.
optimist.travishellstrom.com →Custom web form + backend for a nonprofit — replaces a clunky Google Form workflow with a designed experience that reflects the organization's identity.
rdad.travishellstrom.com →24/7 AI assistant connected to email, calendar, Slack, and every system I run. Morning briefs, research, drafting, client work. This page? Sky helped build it.
sky.travishellstrom.com →A working AI assistant built specifically for a friend in 30 minutes — pre-loaded with her context, her work, her brand. This is what it looks like to build for someone.
jenny.travishellstrom.com →"Using AI to make us more human, not less."
The tools exist. The models are here. What's missing is someone who understands your work deeply enough to build something worth using — and cares enough about the outcome to own it like a principal, not manage it like a vendor.
I've spent the last fifteen years in roles where I had to build what didn't exist yet — from Peace Corps Mongolia to startup consulting to executive recruiting to AI-powered systems.
What I've learned: the right tool is usually one you build. And with AI as the execution layer, one person with the right judgment can now do what used to take a team.
I work with a small number of clients where I can go deep. Not a consultant. Not an agency. A principal who owns the outcome.
If you have a tool that's costing you money or energy and not quite working — let's find out if there's a better version to build.
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