They sang the US national anthem at a final we’re not in? I’m so embarrassed.
Chris Shiflett
@shiflett.org
I like making things. Right now, that's Schoolcase, a smart assistant that helps families stay on top of school emails and activities, and Studioworks, an app that helps creatives and freelancers send beautiful invoices and manage their clients.
Mastodon has been my mental model for social media federation, so I thought of federation in terms of instances. This enlightening blog post explains why the concept doesn’t make sense in the Atmosphere. overreacted.io/there-are-no...
There Are No Instances in atproto — overreacted
Like RSS and Google Reader.
overreacted.io
This past weekend, I built a local MCP server in PHP and wrote about the process. If you’re a PHP developer curious about MCP, this might be the simple example you’re looking for. shiflett.org/blog/2026/bu...
Building an MCP Server for My Lab, by Chris Shiflett
The lab is now being built in the lab.
shiflett.org
I turn 50 today, so I wrote something for you. It’s a story about the 50 years I got to be here for, the part of technology that made me fall in love with it, the years I lost that feeling, and what brought it back. I hope you like it. shiflett.org/blog/2026/ju...
Just You Wait, by Chris Shiflett
On turning 50: a personal story about luck, curiosity, disillusionment, and hope.
shiflett.org
Yesterday, I launched the first redesign of Faculty in a while, and this one was especially meaningful for two reasons: - I did the design, so it risked never launching. :-) - I’m repositioning Faculty to focus on products and specifically 0→1. I put a few Easter eggs in there, too. faculty.com
Faculty — A product studio with standards
Faculty is a product studio in Boulder. We work with founders to ship the right thing.
faculty.com
Here’s a fun thing we made. The Studioworks Library is a collection of free interactive tools and resources for everything from bookkeeping and tax prep to writing tricky client emails. It’s your small business spirit guide. Go play → library.studioworks.app
Free tools for better businessing, from Studioworks
A free collection of interactive tools and resources. From bookkeeping and tax prep to writing tricky client emails, it’s your small business spirit guide.
library.studioworks.app
Per tradition, my first blog post of the year is a recap of 2025. It was a hard year in some ways, a meaningful one in others. Writing it helped me make sense of it. shiflett.org/blog/2026/20...
2025 Recap, by Chris Shiflett
Chris Shiflett is an entrepreneur, product designer, and web developer.
shiflett.org
Thanks for sharing, Emmett! Lowering the bar to creating your own thing (and making it seem less intimidating) is one of the goals. I’d love to see more creatives doing their own thing, but I know it’s not for everyone. We’re trying to help by making simpler tools that make you look (and feel) good.
only @shoptalkshow.com can make an episode about invoicing interesting. Learning about Studioworks makes the thought of starting my own thing seem a lot easier!
only @shoptalkshow.com can make an episode about invoicing interesting. Learning about Studioworks makes the thought of starting my own thing seem a lot easier!
694: Invoicing with Studioworks with Jessica and Chris Chris and Jessica from Studioworks join us to talk about their new app, why they're uniquely qualified to run an invoicing app, what the long term vision is for Studioworks, pricing models of subscription apps, how invoicing isn't just for web…
Now that Studioworks is a lot more than pretty invoicing, we wanted to update the website to show off some new features and tell a richer story about who we are, what we’re building, and what a Studioworks membership gets you. studioworks.app
Streamline Your Studio | Studioworks
Run your creative studio like a pro — client management, beautiful invoicing, low-fee payments, and a supportive community
studioworks.app
Our new (and still WIP) marketing site has some fun interactions, too, including some of the design customizations we use in the product. studioworks.app
Today is launch day! We’ve been working on Studioworks all year, and I think it’s already the best invoicing platform out there, with the lowest fees, most design customizations, and simplest UI. If you’re curious to try it out, here’s a referral link for a free month: studioworks.app/join/chris
Studioworks: Business management software for creative studios
We’re making everything you need to manage your creative studio, from proposals and contracts to invoicing and payments.
studioworks.app
You know phones have gotten way too big when one of the new featured accessories is a carrying strap.
Pretty wild that a group of 3 indie developers managed to make a game so popular that it took down the Nintendo eShop, Steam, and Xbox.
Does the person responsible for HBO → HBO Max → Max work at MSNBC now? Sorry, I mean NOW.
It has been more than 20 years since Steve Jobs gave the Stanford Commencement Address. 20 years before that, he was fired from Apple. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8u...
Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
YouTube video by Stanford
youtube.com
This post by @eev.ee is so good, and it’s honestly reassuring to see someone saying things that make sense right now (about AI or anything, really). eev.ee/blog/2025/07...
The rise of Whatever
This was originally titled “I miss when computers were fun”. But in the course of writing it, I discovered that there is a reason computers became less fun, a dark thread woven through a number of eve...
eev.ee
If you get an email from Google telling you your Google Workspace subscription is scheduled for cancellation, it’s a lie. They’re just trying to trick you into paying for their AI add-on, Gemini Business.
Pretty happy about Boulder having a Creative Mornings (finally): creativemornings.com/cities/BOU
CreativeMornings/Boulder
CreativeMornings is a breakfast lecture series for the creative community. Join us at one of our free monthly events around the world or watch the talks online!
creativemornings.com
Katie Ledecky has not lost the 1500m in the last 15 years. She was only 13 years old when she last lost (she came in third), and only because her swim cap came off. She has won ever since. Unbelievable dominance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5saY...
Katie Ledecky cruises to women’s 1500m win in GOAT fashion at worlds | NBC Sports
YouTube video by NBC Sports
youtube.com
Indigo Girls at Red Rocks were great as always. Probably their best show in the last few years, and the place was packed with people singing along. We all needed that.
“Less, but better” sounds a lot like our philosophy at Studioworks. tomgreenwood.substack.com/p/what-if-th...
What if the key to better business was… less?
Lucie Montel writes this guest post sharing a degrowth philosophy for business
tomgreenwood.substack.com
In case you haven’t read that Apple paper on AI, @christophniemann.bsky.social already made a summary: www.newyorker.com/culture/cove...
Christoph Niemann’s “Create Your Own Cover with Till-E”
The artist arches an eyebrow at our robot overlords.
newyorker.com
Watching the Canva Create keynote: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lupw...
Canva Create: Uncharted
YouTube video by Canva
youtube.com
Yesterday, we launched studioworks.community, a free community for Studioworks members. I already love it so much. Join us!
Studioworks
The Studioworks Community Hub is a place to connect, share and learn with other professional creatives. Co-work, find collaborators, find and share educational tools and resources, get perks and disco...
studioworks.community