Core values
The small set of principles that shape how I build, choose tools, and make decisions for Let's Figure It Out.
I try to keep the operating system behind this site simple.
Not a list of vague aspirations. Not a page full of polished slogans. Just a few principles that are useful when I need to make a decision about tools, projects, clients, or how I spend my time.
These are the ones I keep coming back to.
Reduce friction
If something important keeps not getting done, I do not assume the answer is more discipline.
Usually there is friction in the system: too many steps, too many moving parts, too much setup, too many decisions, too much repeated work.
That is how good ideas stay stuck in draft form.
So one of my default questions is: what is making this harder than it needs to be?
Sometimes the answer is technical. Sometimes it is financial. Sometimes it is cognitive.
The point is the same. Remove unnecessary resistance so more energy goes into the work that actually matters.
Own your own data
I do not like building on foundations I do not control if I can reasonably avoid it.
Third-party platforms are useful, and I use them. But every dependency comes with risk: pricing changes, feature removals, policy shifts, lock-in, and the slow accumulation of operational fragility.
When the important parts of your work live in systems you control, you have more leverage and fewer unpleasant surprises.
That does not always mean self-host everything.
It does mean thinking carefully about where your data lives, how portable your setup is, and how exposed you are if a platform changes direction.
Ship it
Perfection is one of the easiest ways to hide from real progress.
There is a point where more planning stops being useful and starts becoming a delay tactic. I have hit that point often enough to recognise it.
So I try to bias toward publishing, testing, iterating, and improving in public rather than waiting for some imaginary final version.
A shipped version teaches you something. A polished draft sitting privately does not.
Why these matter together
These values reinforce each other.
Reducing friction makes it easier to ship. Owning your own data makes it safer to keep building. Shipping early creates feedback that helps you simplify the system further.
That loop matters more to me than looking sophisticated on paper.
If a tool, workflow, or platform helps me do meaningful work with less drag and more control, I am interested.
If it adds overhead, dependency, or performative complexity, I am usually not.