Now · Staff Software Engineer · Codefi · Springfield, MO
42% of startups fail because they build something nobody wants. Not a motivation problem. Not a team problem. A sequence problem — and a tooling problem. Traction Studio AI is the platform Codefi built to fix that: AI-powered guidance, right-sized tools, and expert services woven into one continuous system that takes founders from "is there a problem worth solving here?" to "we have traction." I'm the Staff Software Engineer behind it.
Traction Studio AI isn't another tool. It's a methodical system for the complete traction journey — three layers, designed to reinforce each other.
Guidance based on stage
AI-powered guidance on what to do next, in what order, based on where the founder actually is. Market sizing, competitive landscape analysis, business model design, and go-to-market planning — surfaced when they're useful, not as a wall of modules to grind through.
Right-sized execution
The execution capabilities a founder needs — integrated into one environment instead of stitched together from a dozen SaaS tabs. Validation canvas, interview scripts, pitch and asset generation, operating dashboards.
Hands-on, when it counts
Expert help when the situation calls for hands-on support: customer discovery, prototypes, managed sales campaigns, and MVP development. The platform escalates to people the same way a good team escalates to specialists.
Three stages. The right question at each one — and the platform takes founders from each answer to the next without making them start over.
Problem / Solution Fit
Before anything is built, the question is whether anyone's pain is real and worth solving. Ideation guides founders through that work — so the next dollar of effort is spent on something the market actually wants.
Solution / Customer Fit
Once the problem is real, the test moves to whether the solution lands with the people who have it. Incubation is where the validated idea meets actual customers, and the platform helps founders run that loop fast and honestly.
Product / Market Fit
When the solution is working for a real customer set, the question shifts to whether it can be a business. Acceleration is where traction compounds — and where founders move toward fundability, growth, and the conversations investors want to have.
Two access paths, deliberately structured so the founders who need this most can actually get to it.
The day job — and the most consequential work of my career so far.
I'm the Staff Software Engineer at Codefi behind Traction Studio AI. I own the architecture, set the engineering bar, and lead the team building the platform that takes founders from "is there a problem here?" all the way to traction. The work I'm proudest of isn't a feature on a roadmap — it's the team-and-system reality that lets us ship quickly without trading away the trust founders are putting in us.
"A rising tide raises all boats — and it's important to me that the people I work with are excited to grow, contribute, and collaborate every day."
For obvious reasons, this page intentionally sticks to product framing rather than implementation detail. If you're a builder, an investor, or a peer engineer who wants to compare notes on what it actually takes to run a small team against a serious mission — get in touch.
The side project, the writing, the talks, and the rest of the work live on the main page.