About The Build Paradox
Building Technology That Lasts
Software development is like constructing a building. You need to know what you're building and how it will evolve to ensure you lay the right foundations. You can't build a skyscraper on the foundations of a bungalow.
Yet every day, companies try to do precisely that with their technology.
The Paradox
The Build Paradox is simple: the pressure to build fast often prevents us from building at all. Instead, we accumulate layers of quick fixes, temporary solutions, and architectural compromises that eventually become the permanent reality.
This site explores the tension between:
- Speed and Sustainability – shipping today versus thriving tomorrow
- Innovation and Stability – breaking new ground while maintaining solid foundations
- Growth and Governance – scaling rapidly while managing risk
- Features and Foundations – what customers see versus what actually matters
- Present and Future – solving today's problems without creating tomorrow's crisis
The Philosophy
After two decades working across diverse technology sectors, from mission-critical systems to consumer platforms, I've learned that sustainable velocity beats sprint speed every time.
Good architecture isn't about perfection. It's about:
- Understanding what you're building before you build it
- Laying foundations that can support future growth
- Knowing when debt is strategic and when it's reckless
- Balancing competing pressures without compromising core stability
- Building systems that bend but don't break
What You'll Find Here
This isn't about preaching perfection or academic theory. It's about the real-world balance between competing forces:
- How to build strong foundations without paralysing progress
- When technical debt is leverage and when it's a liability
- Why some platforms scale elegantly while others collapse
- How to navigate the pressure to deliver without mortgaging the future
- What questions boards should really ask about technology
- How regulated industries can innovate responsibly
- The hidden costs of moving too fast – or too slow
Who This Is For
Whether you're:
- Leading a company trying to balance growth with stability
- Running technology caught between business pressure and technical reality
- Investing in tech wanting to understand what's beneath the surface
- Building systems fighting for the time to do things right
- Governing platforms ensuring compliance without killing innovation
The challenges are universal. The context may change, from InsurTech to emergency services, from startups to enterprises, but the fundamental tensions remain the same.
The Approach
Every piece here aims to be:
- Technically grounded but accessible to all audiences
- Practically focused on real-world application
- Honestly balanced acknowledging trade-offs, not absolutes
- Forward-looking focused on building better, not just critiquing
This isn't about pointing fingers at what's broken. It's about understanding why things break and how to build systems that don't.
The Mission
To bridge the gap between those who build technology and those who depend on it. To translate technical complexity into business impact. To help organisations find the sweet spot between moving fast and building right.
Because in the end, the best technology is boring technology – it just works, scales predictably, and doesn't wake anyone up at 3 AM.
About the Author
With experience spanning from startups to enterprises, from real-time systems to regulatory compliance, I've seen technology from every angle. I've watched platforms scale brilliantly and collapse spectacularly. I've built systems that lasted and others that didn't.
Now I write about the patterns, the pitfalls, and the path to building technology that actually lasts.
Based in the UK, working with organisations globally who are ready to move beyond the build paradox.