Insights
‘Beyond the noise’ cuts through the chatter with clear, actionable insights on tech, SaaS, and product. A no-fluff blog by Eli5 and friends.
Choosing the Right Tech Stack for Your Product
Choosing the right tech stack for your product is more than just picking popular tools or the latest frameworks. It’s about aligning the strengths of technology with the unique needs of your project, your team, and your growth strategy. At Eli5, we believe that a solid tech stack isn't just built to work, it needs to be built to last, adapt, and scale. The right approach to your tech stack sets the foundation for future success and ensures that as your product evolves, your technology evolves with it. In this blog, we’ll dive into how we approach tech stack decisions, why our adaptable and tech-agnostic mindset is crucial, and how these choices position our clients for sustainable growth.
Product and Tech Strategy Simplified: What Every Builder and Innovator Should Know
Action wins over planning, hands down. However, we find it incredibly important to have a plan before we get in the trenches. We help companies from high-level innovation strategy to pinpoint product opportunities, to monetization and business model strategy Were do the opportunities lie? And when it's clear there is an opportunity, how do we go from idea to validated product concept asap? What scenarios can we come up with in terms of solution architecture and are we compliant to industry regulations or company policies? We see strategy work as a necessity, from high level innovation strategy to GTM strategy, but we are all for speed and agility. We don't do months of strategy work, no endless powerpoint presentations, and certainly no unnecessary work. We focus on the sweet spots of strategy work and we don't go beyond the point of diminished returns. Let's take you through our vision on strategy work. Secret: every strategy work we do is combined with us getting in the trenches to gather feedback, validate assumptions, and distill things to viable plans.
Startups to Watch: December
Every month, we track recently funded tech companies. From pre-seed to far beyond. We list the early stage companies that catch our attention in this monthly series. Think AI, SaaS, Crypto, and Tech solving real problems we think people care about. No fluff, just bold innovation and moonshot projects.
The Eli5 Guide to Modern Software Development
Modern software development isn’t just about writing code. It’s about orchestrating a process that balances innovation with stability, speed with thoroughness, and intelligence with practicality. At Eli5, we do just that. We build solutions designed to scale, adapt, and deliver real impact. With expertise spanning everything from seamless enterprise integration to harnessing the best of AI, we know that successful development is the result of thoughtful strategy and precise execution. In this blog, we’ll dive into the principles that shape our approach to modern software development and why these practices set our clients up for sustainable growth and success.
AI fear and greed and its influence on the corporate innovation roadmap
Disruption is dead, long live disruption. In the early days of corporate innovation every corporate management team had the slumbering feeling they needed to act. Along came the well funded startups from silicon valley with their user friendly apps that really spoke to customers needs and pains.
Eli5 Strengthens Leadership Team with Floris Schoenmakers and commits to Go-to-Market Innovation
We're thrilled to announce that Floris Schoenmakers has joined as a partner and co-owner. Schoenmakers, an experienced entrepreneur with a strong background in digital transformation, venture building, and product development, will actively contribute to Eli5's growth in the coming years.
The case for freedom tech
We live in an age where conversations around freedom and technology have become more polarized than ever. Behind the constant dispute lies a fundamental issue that transcends any political affiliation: protecting the infrastructure that upholds our freedoms. Without it, we risk railroading ourselves into a future where control is centralized, and disagreement is met with the convenient label of "hate speech" or "misinformation." Those who don't mind these labels because they work in their favor should understand that this weapon can be used against them as well
DevOps and beyond: A methodological edge for Eli5.
Having the right ideas for building new products but it’s execution that takes things into reality. And execution without structure? That’s just chaos dressed up as ambition. Our edge at Eli5 comes from not just working hard but working smart. This means embedding proven methodologies into our DNA to streamline development, keep our teams agile, and deliver top-notch products that users actually want. Methodologies like Agile, Lean Development, and DevOps aren't just industry terms we throw around—they shape how we think, plan, and build. They’re the frameworks that give us the freedom to move fast without breaking things that matter. We don’t just choose one and stick with it; we adapt, combining the best aspects of these methodologies to suit the needs of each project. This is what sets Eli5 apart: a dynamic approach that’s as flexible as it is structured. In this blog, we’ll break down how these methodologies come together at Eli5, why they’re essential, and how they give us a real advantage when building high-quality, user-focused products
No risk, no story. No bursts of intensity, no glory.
I've caught myself saying this numerous times, and I hear every entrepreneurial person around me echo it: consistency is the key. But let’s be honest—consistency is just controlled decline over a longer timespan. It keeps you stable, comfortable, and safe (I mean, look at Europe, right?). The real power behind success lies in bursts of intensity—those few weeks or months of obsessive 14-hour days where you push ideas into reality.
Breaking the Binary Between Innovation and Optimization
Imagine a business landscape where you must choose between becoming the next Google or UPS. Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, that's exactly the false dilemma too many companies fall into when debating innovation versus optimization. But here’s the kicker: you don’t need to choose. In fact, you shouldn't. The real magic happens when you master the art of balancing both.
Those who wait and those who build
The AI space is often referred to as the ‘new dotcom boom’, something that will change the lives of everyone forever and therefore everyone needs to be excited about beyond words. While I share the sentiment up to a point, there are flashbacks to the web 3.0 craze that gripped a lot of us in the tech scene in 2020 and 2021
Tech Product Development: how to choose from in-house teams to product studios
In the fast-paced world of tech development, the path to building a product is less a straight line and more a journey through uncharted territory.