https://lukahorvat.dev/blog Essays on architecture, product execution, AI systems, and the mechanics of shipping useful software. en-us https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/fractional-cto-vs-agency-vs-first-hire https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/fractional-cto-vs-agency-vs-first-hire Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Three ways to buy technical capability, compared on the four questions that matter: cost, incentives, accountability, and what's left when they walk out the door. leadership strategy startups https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/zero-to-8-figure-arr-boring-stack https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/zero-to-8-figure-arr-boring-stack Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT How a DTC wellness brand scaled past 8 figures ARR in under two years on Shopify, Recharge, server-side GTM, and a Fivetran→RDS→Metabase pipeline — and why every 'boring' choice was a business decision. architecture e-commerce case study https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/when-does-your-startup-need-a-cto https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/when-does-your-startup-need-a-cto Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most startups hire a CTO too early or too late. A decision framework by stage — and what to do when the honest answer is 'not yet'. leadership strategy startups https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/full-stack-ai-end-to-end-engineer https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/full-stack-ai-end-to-end-engineer Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT Coding is being commoditized; the scarce edge is end-to-end engineering judgment across systems, business context, and execution. ai engineering architecture https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/shopify-payments-eu-defi-tradfi https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/shopify-payments-eu-defi-tradfi Thu, 14 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT A real EU Shopify setup case study: DeFi checkout took under an hour, while traditional card rails took 27 days and materially higher fees. Payments Shopify https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/the-art-of-hunt https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/the-art-of-hunt Sun, 31 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Four hunting strategies as a metaphor for choosing execution models in business and product environments. strategy business execution https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/speed-vs-velocity-software-engineering https://lukahorvat.dev/blog/speed-vs-velocity-software-engineering Fri, 04 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT Speed without direction burns time; velocity in software engineering is what converts motion into durable product progress. engineering delivery leadership