Elliot C Smith

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Latest — 29 Jan 2026

How to, mostly, guarantee success in your career

Over my career so far I have done a lot of different things. I've written code, designed PCBs and MRI machines, run Google ads, been out on the road doing sales and managed teams doing all of the above. Overall, regardless of the job at hand, I think

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Things I changed my mind about in 2025

It's still the tail end of January so I am going to use this time as an excuse to sneak in a '2025 reflection' type post. This could easily be just about things I've changed my mind on recently but I figure I'

Doing more things just for the hell of it.

One of my 'not written down' goals for this year is to try to do more things just for the hell of it. I have historically fallen into the trap of trying to optimise, maximise or commercialise just about everything I do. It eventually managed to make a

Has AI removed the appeal of vertical SaaS?

Let's put aside for a moment the question of 'is AI bad for humanity' and accept that it is a thing that exists in the world. Particularly in the world of 'tool that writes code'. Right now, for circa $200 a month you can

Playing around with Google Stitch

This week I spent some time using Google Stitch, an AI chat interface for product mock ups. There are a lot of these kind of products, Figma has one, so does Canva. Stitch is the first one I've used that is filling a real need for me. That

Ball x Pit is pretty good.

There's a formula that seems to work pretty well, combine a simple and familiar game mechanic with rouge like/lite elements and you've got a good chance at a winner. Balatro was poker, Rent is a Landlord was slots, Ball x Pit is Breakout. As is

Some games are a guilty pleasure

Somehow, without quite meaning to, I have managed to spend around forty hours playing Megabonk. There's a little part of me that's ashamed to admit that. It's full of flashy lights, terrible humor and a fair share of mindless grind. Ultimately though, if its

Get Good - Is Silksong too hard?

I'll admit, I never finished Hollow Knight. It wasn't because it was hard but I reached a point where the fun waned. Despite that I enjoyed it. Enough that I was always destined to play Silksong all these years later. I'm about fourteen hours

OKR Hierarchy - Detail not Distance

OKRs are a very popular goal setting technique in startups. Despite this, they seem to either be loved or hated. In theory, they help to ensure every person, team and department is spending their time on things that help move the company towards its goals. In practice, I've

Sword of the Sea Review

Sword of the Sea is a short, well crafted game following in the footsteps of its creator's previous wins. Playing casually you'll probably reach the credits in a few hours but there's enough fun and hidden extras that there's plenty more to