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We built our own internal CRM. Six months later, here's what we wish we knew.
A practical account of building an internal CRM at a small team. What worked, what we would throw away, and the math that actually decided it.
Heat. Pressure. Output.
Crucible is a magazine about building startups.
The decisions, the lessons, the people.
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Mindset
The case for a great little business
Why a great little business can beat a great big one: the inherited scale story, what deliberate smallness looks like, how bureaucracy creeps in, and knowing what enough means.
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Your code review process was never about catching bugs
What code review really produced, why it breaks when volume outruns attention, the few things still worth a human's eyes, and keeping the learning alive without reading each diff.
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Field Notes
From the field
A field note is one or two true sentences from inside the work — something learned, changed, or quietly regretted. No polish, no byline.
I've stopped doing pricing experiments without first knowing what I'll do if they fail.
The most useful thing I did in Q1 was cancel a project that was 70% done.
Most internal tools don't fail because they're wrong. They fail because the person who needs them stops opening them.
We hired our first senior IC before we hired our first manager. Six months in, I think we got the order right.
Learned something the hard way this week? Pass it on.
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