Ampersand

Articles

Notes from
the workshop.

Practical writing on building software, using AI at work and keeping products healthy after launch. Written for founders and teams, not for other engineers.

Auth0 vs Cognito: Swiss Data Rules, AWS Costs, and Ongoing Work

Compare Auth0 and Cognito on customization, AWS integration, MAU pricing, and Swiss data protection, then weigh the operational work each choice leaves.

Read article
A hotel reception with brass room keys on a wooden key board beside a beige keycard encoder with an amber light.

Webflow vs Framer 2026: Swiss AI SEO and Locale Costs

Compare Webflow and Framer for Swiss projects in 2026: weigh AI visibility tools, CMS depth, multilingual pricing, and fit for your site's growth.

Read article
A drawer of metal letterpress type with a composing stick next to a sheet of rub-down lettering and a burnisher.

Best CRM for Swiss Startups: Choose by Sales Motion, Not Brand

Choose a startup CRM by sales motion, then trial two or three tools. Compare Swiss pricing, rollout times, DSG duties, and setup by senior engineers.

Read article
A rotary card file, a wooden index-card box with one orange tab and a closed address book side by side on a desk.

Odoo vs NetSuite: One Entity or Several? Decide in One Call

Compare Odoo and NetSuite by entity structure, price, financial controls, and implementation. Use key questions to choose the right ERP before your demo.

Read article
One large accounting ledger next to three slimmer ledgers in a slipcase, with a rubber stamp on an orange ink pad between them.

Swiss CRM Buyers: HubSpot vs Salesforce Beyond License Costs

Compare HubSpot and Salesforce for Swiss businesses on total cost, data residency, product fit, and migration effort to budget implementation.

Read article
A large wooden shipping crate with a small orange price tag tied to its corner, beside a much smaller crate.

HubSpot vs Pipedrive: Start Free, Check Caps for Swiss Teams

Compare HubSpot and Pipedrive for Swiss small teams: weigh HubSpot’s free CRM and marketing tools against Pipedrive’s pipeline focus and automation limits.

Read article
A steel ticket rail split into stages, with cream order slips thinning out towards one orange slip at the end.

Board Ready Scorecard for CTOs: Swiss Cases on Rewrite vs Refactor

A score driven rubric CTOs can use to choose rewrite or refactor. Sets 2.5 and 3.5 thresholds, a checklist to run in a week, and Swiss case evidence.

Read article
An old wooden chair clamped for repair on a workbench, beside an unopened flat-pack box for a new chair.

Avoid Premature Sharding: Kubernetes Patterns for Web App Scalability

Implementation-first guide to scale web apps: fix DB hot paths, apply Kubernetes autoscaling patterns, secure cache keys, and validate capacity with...

Read article
Two checkout lanes in a 1980s supermarket, the second lane's amber lamp just switching on as it opens.

Founders: When to Hire a CTO, Stage-Aligned Signals and Timeline

Stage-aligned framework for founders: signals, hiring models, and a weeks-to-months timeline. Includes a checklist, KPIs, onboarding steps, and fractional...

Read article
An empty swivel chair at a tidy 1980s desk with a flip calendar and a blank nameplate, the desk lamp already on.

Day Rates CHF 1,600–2,400: Fractional CTO Costs for Swiss Founders

Discover Swiss fractional CTO costs: day rates (CHF 1,600–2,400), VAT effects and how retainers stack up against a CHF 130,060 full-time salary.

Read article
A 1980s punch time clock with three time cards in a rack and a printing calculator on the shelf below.