Product
From strategy to shipped
I know what to build, what to cut, and how to ship it. I've done zero-to-one more times than most people have done zero. I also design it, so nothing gets lost between strategy and UX.
Accepting clients
Go from idea
to product, fast.
I help founders build and ship products faster, with AI baked into your product, processes, and team.
Book a call with me
// What I do
AI Advisor and builder.
AI Integration
Real leverage, not hype
I build my own products on AI daily. I know what actually moves the needle and what's just noise. I'll tell you exactly where it fits in your product and where it doesn't.
Execution
Things get done
I don't show up with a deck. I show up and things get done. One person across strategy, design, and AI means no handoffs, no lost context, no excuses.
// How I think
See how I think about building.
// The problem
The idea is solid.
Everything after that isn't.
You know what you want to build. You just can't get it out of your head and into the world.
01
The agency trap
Hours billed, nothing shipped
You hired an agency. They gave you a project manager, a Jira board, and weekly status calls. Six months later you have half a product and an invoice.
02
The AI confusion
Everyone says add AI
Your investors want it. Your competitors claim they have it. Nobody can tell you where it actually creates value in your specific product.
03
The team problem
Too many cooks, too little shipped
Designer hands off to developer. Developer hands off to QA. Everyone's busy, nothing moves. Coordination overhead is killing your momentum.
04
The window
Speed is the advantage
Every week you're not shipping, someone else is. The founders who win aren't smarter. They just move faster.
// The solution
Here's where I come in.
I've plugged in to teams and shipped products at every scale, from zero to seven-figure exits to AI-native apps live in days. The proof is in what got built.
Bucket.io
From Idea to 7-Figure Exit
Took a marketing tool from concept to a SaaS product used by thousands. Grew it to seven figures. Saw it through to a successful exit.
Qrvey
Building an 80+ Person Product Team
Built design and product from scratch. Scaled the team from 0 to 80+. Helped grow this data analytics SaaS to 8 figures.
Mashable
Transforming a Media Giant's UX
Rethought platform UX and performance for Mashable. Shipped a redesign that scaled to millions of readers.
PeopleHR
Simplifying HR, Amplifying Growth
Modernized a legacy HR platform. Redesigned the UX to be cleaner and faster. Contributed to a 7-figure exit.
AskMethod
Leading Multi-Product Development
Managed design and engineering across multiple SaaS products. Built team workflows. Improved product cohesion company-wide.
Benchmark
Modernizing a Legacy Platform
Modernized Benchmark Email's legacy platform. Redesigned workflows based on customer research, balancing user needs with technical constraints.
ClawDeck
AI-Native Arcade Game
Built and launched an AI-powered claw machine game. Profitable from week one. Proof that one person with the right tools can ship a complete product in days.
tini.bio
From Idea to 4,000+ Users
A link-in-bio tool built in days with AI-native workflows. 4,000+ users and growing. Fast validation, real traction.
gratu
Rethinking Gratuity
A gratitude journal app built from scratch in days. Live and generating revenue. Another example of what AI-native building makes possible.
// Articles
What I'm thinking and shipping.
Ideas, frameworks, and lessons from 18 years of building products. Not theory. Things I've learned by doing it.
Software
AI Killed Product Estimation
I spent 18 years estimating how long products take to build. Story points. T-shirt sizing. Sprint planning. Quarterly roadmaps. Gantt charts that …
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Entrepreneurship
You Don't Need a Product Strategist. You Need a Right Hand.
Every founder I talk to has the same gap in their operation. They know their market. They can sell. They can raise. They can build relationships and …
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Entrepreneurship
How to Validate a Startup Idea in 2026 (The Old Playbook Is Dead)
Every startup blog will tell you the same thing: validate before you build. Do 20 customer interviews. Run surveys. Create a landing page. Collect …
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Software
The Old Rules of Building Software Are Dead
For 20 years, building a software product meant the same thing. Hire a team. Write a spec. Sit through standups. Wait months. Spend six figures. Hope …
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Software
AI Agents Helped Me Ship Five Products. Two Are Already Profitable.
I shipped five products recently. All within about six weeks. Different stacks, different users, totally different problems. Two of them are already …
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Software
Feature Prioritization When Everything Feels Urgent
The hardest part of product isn’t deciding what to build. It’s deciding what not to build. When your biggest customer threatens to churn …
Read article →// About
Who I am.
I'm Max. 5x founder. 18 years turning ideas into real products, from zero to seven-figure exits. I know what works, what breaks, and what founders wish they'd known earlier.
I've scaled teams from 0 to 80+, hired over 800 engineers and designers, and shipped products at every scale. Today I work with a handful of founders and product leaders one-on-one, and build my own AI-native products at mx.works.
The best outside perspective comes from someone still inside the work. That's the only kind I offer.
Max
Builder. Advisor. 5x Founder.