About Stay Unfinished

Unfinished: Notes on Building in a World That Never Stops Changing is my field notebook for founders, product builders, and leaders who create in motion.

This isn't another framework to memorize or methodology to implement. It's a philosophy for launching with momentum instead of waiting for perfection.

The book itself practices what it preaches: I launched it "unfinished" on purpose, repositioned it based on reader feedback, and continue iterating it. Two weeks after launch, I discovered I'd positioned it wrong—too focused on design, not enough on business value. So I pivoted. Changed the subtitle. Broadened the audience. That pivot IS the philosophy in action.

"In a world that never stops changing, nothing you build can stay the same."

The unfinished philosophy isn't about being incomplete. It's about recognizing that "done" is a myth we tell ourselves to feel safe, while real work evolves through use.

After 20 years, I've noticed a pattern: every project I shipped—even the ones I released reluctantly—improved dramatically once they met real people. The products that failed? The ones we perfected in isolation.

The world moves fast, and those who hesitate get left behind. But speed without direction is just chaos.

I've seen too many founders stuck in endless planning, burning runway on features nobody wants. Too many product teams building for imaginary users. Too many businesses waiting for "ready" while competitors ship and learn.

This philosophy helps you:

• Launch products faster with confidence, not recklessness
• Build what users actually need, saving time and money
• Make better decisions with less information
• Find clarity in uncertain markets
• Create profitable businesses through rapid learning

Whether you're launching your first product or your fiftieth, the principles remain the same: progress teaches what planning never could.

Everything here—the book, this website, my approach to work—embodies the same principle: launch, learn, iterate.

The book started as notes scattered across years of building products. Instead of waiting until they felt "complete," I shipped them. Readers told me what resonated. I adjusted. The book got better because it met real people, not because I perfected it in isolation.

This website followed the same path. Launched simple, evolved based on use. Every project teaches the same lesson: momentum creates clarity that planning never could.

That's the paradox of "unfinished"—by accepting that nothing is ever truly done, we free ourselves to make real progress. To build things that matter. To serve users instead of our assumptions.

The creation of StayUnfinished itself embodies this philosophy. Built with Astro and developed with the assistance of AI tools, the site represents a belief that technology should be an accelerant for human creativity—not a replacement for it. I don't write code professionally, yet I shipped a fully functional website in days rather than months. That's not about the technology being magic; it's about approaching tools with curiosity rather than fear.

At SAIL, I work on systems that blend human insight with machine capability. The lesson is always the same: AI excels at pattern recognition, speed, and scale—but it can't replicate empathy, contextual judgment, or the ability to ask "should we even build this?"

The world moves fast, and I've learned that those who hesitate get left behind. But speed without direction is just chaos. Unfinished is about embracing continuous evolution while maintaining intellectual rigor—staying curious about new tools while questioning old assumptions, moving quickly while thinking deeply, building iteratively while designing thoughtfully.

Whether you're here for insights on UX research, thoughts on AI's role in design, or reflections on what it means to build products worth trusting, know this: I'm still learning, still questioning, still unfinished.

And that's exactly where the best work happens.