Rob Walling

To give you context, Hammerstone is the name of the company started by Colleen, a skilled Ruby on Rails developer, and her co-founder, Aaron Francis, an expert in Laravel development. The idea behind Hammerstone was to build a company that specializes in creating developer tools with small, easy to use components that simplify the process of building software.

To give you context, Hammerstone is the name of the company started by Colleen, a skilled Ruby on Rails developer, and her co-founder, Aaron Francis, an expert in Laravel development. The idea behind Hammerstone was to build a company that specializes in creating developer tools with small, easy to use components that simplify the process of building software.

What sets this company apart is that while both Colleen and Aaron are technical co-founders, they each have different coding stacks, something that becomes particularly relevant when discussing their flagship product, Refine. Refine is sold as a single product that exists as a drop-in visual query builder.

What sets this company apart is that while both Colleen and Aaron are technical co-founders, they each have different coding stacks, something that becomes particularly relevant when discussing their flagship product, Refine. Refine is sold as a single product that exists as a drop-in visual query builder.

But Refine is actually two completely separate products due to the fact that they offer a version for Laravel and a version for Ruby on Rails. This relatively unique approach allows Hammerstone to cater to a wider audience of developers. How did we get here where you have two separate products under the same name?

But Refine is actually two completely separate products due to the fact that they offer a version for Laravel and a version for Ruby on Rails. This relatively unique approach allows Hammerstone to cater to a wider audience of developers. How did we get here where you have two separate products under the same name?

That's super interesting. Not only the way that you were brought on as a consultant and are now a co-founder, but in the way that you've been able to keep the IP. Oh, yeah. How did that come about? Was it just, we want to keep the IP? Okay, here's a contract? Or was there negotiation around that?

That's super interesting. Not only the way that you were brought on as a consultant and are now a co-founder, but in the way that you've been able to keep the IP. Oh, yeah. How did that come about? Was it just, we want to keep the IP? Okay, here's a contract? Or was there negotiation around that?

Because I would imagine if I ran a company and I was hiring you to build something for me, I would tend to want to own that code if I was paying for it.

Because I would imagine if I ran a company and I was hiring you to build something for me, I would tend to want to own that code if I was paying for it.

I'm fascinated by the fact that Colleen's enterprise client is disciplined enough to focus their attention on what they do best. It's not often you see a company with that kind of mindset. Usually large companies try to make everything themselves, believing that it'll be faster or more cost effective than buying an existing solution. In reality, that's not usually the case.

I'm fascinated by the fact that Colleen's enterprise client is disciplined enough to focus their attention on what they do best. It's not often you see a company with that kind of mindset. Usually large companies try to make everything themselves, believing that it'll be faster or more cost effective than buying an existing solution. In reality, that's not usually the case.

It takes months or in some cases years to develop software in-house and the results are often pretty mediocre. Which is why this enterprise client's approach is probably the right way to do it. It sounds like they're focusing on their strengths. There's another inspiring example in Colleen's story about how she became what she likes to call an atypical founder. You're a Rails developer.

It takes months or in some cases years to develop software in-house and the results are often pretty mediocre. Which is why this enterprise client's approach is probably the right way to do it. It sounds like they're focusing on their strengths. There's another inspiring example in Colleen's story about how she became what she likes to call an atypical founder. You're a Rails developer.

Did you go to school to learn how to code?

Did you go to school to learn how to code?

How'd you get into it?

How'd you get into it?

So you lost. Net loss on your first product.

So you lost. Net loss on your first product.