Lee Painter Music for the Soul. Code for the Bowl.

The Journal

Thoughts on software, music, AI, bootstrapping, trust, craft and making things without turning the whole operation into a funnel.

17 August 2026 / Freedom

Why I’ve Stopped Trying to Sell Software

I started my software career by giving software away. Then I nearly went broke. So I stopped. More than 25 years later, I’ve started giving software away again. […]

15 August 2026 / Freedom

Why Didn’t You Just Fucking Remind Me?

This morning I paid £90 for something that cost £4. I wasn’t speeding. I hadn’t parked illegally. I hadn’t jumped a red light. I drove through a tunnel. […]

12 August 2026 / Freedom

We Solved the Wrong Problem

Selling a house in England is one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had. Not because houses are complicated. Because we’ve built a system that seems optimised for […]

7 August 2026 / Code

Stop Making Me Learn Your Software

I was sitting in an airport café with a flight to catch. Breakfast had arrived. The coffee was good. The service had been friendly. Then I wanted to […]

4 August 2026 / Code

The User Interface Is Dead

If you’ve ever watched someone use a piece of business software, you’ve probably seen the same thing I have. Click. Next. Save. Back. Search. Open. Edit. Save. None […]

31 July 2026 / Freedom

But You Just Called Me

There are moments when you’re already juggling more than enough. I’m in the middle of a call with my solicitor. The sale of our house is dragging on. […]

21 July 2026 / Freedom

Nothing Changes

“I’ll sing you a song… then I’ll tell you the story.” A few weeks ago I wrote an article called The Engineer in the Lakers Hat. It was […]

17 July 2026 / Code

From MVP to MVB

This morning I spent fifteen minutes building something that, a month ago, was an engineering project. Not because one of our engineers had done anything wrong. Quite the […]

15 July 2026 / Freedom, Music

Don’t Cut the Singing Lesson

This morning someone told me I’d have more time if I stopped going to my singing lessons. It probably wasn’t meant the way I heard it. But it […]

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