Codex Vitae

Work

Build tools you'd use yourself.

• 2024-06 — Added. The best products come from genuine need.

Ship early and iterate. Perfection is the enemy.

• 2026-01 — Strengthened. After a year of shipping at Brite-Nites, the data is clear: early releases with fast iteration beat long development cycles.
• 2024-03 — Added.

AI will be the most important tool of the next decade.

• 2026-01 — Strengthened. After building with Claude Code daily, this isn't speculative anymore.
• 2024-06 — Added. Initial conviction after GPT-4 release.

Technology

Defaults are underrated.

• 2026-03 — Added. System fonts, standard controls, native scrolling. The best technology is invisible.

Simple systems beat clever systems.

• 2025-06 — Strengthened. Saw a clever microservice architecture fail where a monolith would have worked.
• 2024-01 — Added.

Life

Do fewer things, better.

• 2025-12 — Strengthened. Annual review confirmed: quality over quantity in everything.
• 2024-06 — Added.

Write to think, not to publish.

• 2026-02 — Added. The act of writing is the thinking. Publication is a side effect.

Your environment shapes your output more than your willpower.

• 2025-09 — Added. After redesigning my workspace and seeing the impact.