Writing
Four dimensions, at scale.
Distributed systems, offensive security, technology business, and bootstrapped SaaS — four properties, four voices. Latest posts aggregate here at build time.
- exasharddistributed systems & engineering at scale
- darkpwnoffensive security / ethical hacking
- siliconcenttechnology business
- risemagnatebootstrapped SaaS
Latest
- exashardDo You Actually Need a Service Mesh?A service mesh gives mTLS, traffic control, and observability, at real complexity cost. When a mesh is worth it, when it isn't, and the lighter alternatives.
- exashardPodDisruptionBudgets That Actually Protect YouA PodDisruptionBudget keeps your service up during node drains and upgrades, but a wrong value blocks drains or protects nothing. How to set PDBs correctly.
- exashardHPA on Queue Depth, Not CPUFor queue-driven workers, CPU-based autoscaling reacts too late. Scale your Kubernetes HPA on queue depth or lag instead. Why CPU lies, and how to switch.
- siliconcentAI Is Breaking Per-Seat SaaS PricingAI is breaking per-seat SaaS pricing. See how consumption and outcome pricing re-rate SaaS revenue, with cited 2024-2026 vendor terms and a shift map.
- siliconcentBurn Multiple: The Efficiency Metric That MattersBurn Multiple: The Efficiency Metric That Matters. How much cash you burn per dollar of new ARR, the benchmark bands, and why it beat growth-at-all-costs.
- siliconcentHow Uber Makes Money After Years of LossesThe Uber business model and profitability, read through its filings: a 26.9% take rate on $193B bookings, $9.8B free cash flow, and the take-rate ceiling.
- risemagnateHow to Build a Founder CRM Without OverbuildingA founder CRM you'll actually keep: the few fields and stages that matter, why a spreadsheet beats Salesforce early, and when to graduate to a real tool.
- risemagnateRunning a SaaS Async Across Time ZonesHow a solo founder runs a SaaS async across time zones: turning a big time gap into an advantage with support windows, docs, and self-serve systems.
- risemagnateThe Single-VPS SaaS PlaybookWhen one server is enough: how to run a bootstrapped SaaS on a single VPS, what to put on it, when to split, and how to sleep at night doing it.
- darkpwnPhishing Detection Beyond DMARCHow to detect phishing beyond DMARC — lookalike domains, display-name spoofing, newly-registered senders, and BEC signals, with an SPL analytic and layered defenses.
- darkpwnBuilding a Threat Hunting Hypothesis LibraryHow to build a threat-hunting hypothesis library — ATT&CK-driven hypotheses, the PEAK loop, a reusable template, and turning hunts into detections that stay.
- darkpwnC2 Beaconing DetectionHow to detect C2 beaconing without ML — interval regularity, jitter analysis, and JA3 fingerprints over Zeek logs, with an SPL analytic and egress hardening.
Also: Boot Arch Linux Properly for Software Engineers — on Medium.