StrongStart Labs

Experiments, playbooks, and unapologetic operator notes.

We ship what we're learning in real-time—from GTM experiments and growth loops to architecture notes and operating cadence. It's signal over polish so you can make moves faster.

12+ experiments shippedLatest drop: October 6, 2025Updated weekly

Featured experimentalpha

Ultimate Guide: Wrapping Next.js in Capacitor for iOS at Agency Scale (2026)

A start-to-finish, opinionated playbook for converting production Next.js apps into high-quality iOS apps with Capacitor—including template design, architecture decisions, CI/CD, App Store requirements, and a blueprint for pushing out many branded apps fast and safely.

#Next.js#Capacitor#iOS

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Lab archive

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SEO in 2026: Key Fixes That Change Everything (and How to Optimize for AI Search)

October 1, 2025

A deep dive into the most important SEO fixes for 2026, why they matter, and how brands can prepare for the AI-first search era.

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Understanding GPTBot: Crawlers, Agents, and How to Interpret Their Visits

September 30, 2025

A comprehensive guide to what GPTBot is, how it appears in your logs, the difference between indexing and user-driven retrieval, and what options you have to allow, monitor, or block it.

#AI#Crawlers#GPTBot#Agents#Security#Infrastructure

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DNS Migrations for HubSpot CMS: A Field Guide (Pre / During / Post)

September 30, 2025

A comprehensive, battle-tested playbook to plan and execute DNS moves for HubSpot CMS sites—covering prerequisites, stakeholder handoffs, SSL, email auth, redirects, SEO controls, validation, and post-cutover monitoring.

#HubSpot CMS#DNS#SEO#Migrations#SSL#DMARC#DKIM#SPF#Redirects#Content Staging

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Information Architecture: From the Early Web to Recommendation Engines

September 30, 2025

An exploratory essay on how information architecture has evolved from the early internet, through the social media era, into modern personalization and recommendation systems.

#Information Architecture#Recommendation Engines#Personalization#Internet History#Social Media

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Choosing Transactional Email: Amazon SES vs HubSpot Add-On

September 30, 2025

A narrative exploration of how a small business launching a membership platform can weigh the trade-offs between HubSpot’s transactional email add-on, Amazon SES, and other providers for event-driven automation.

#Transactional Email#HubSpot#Amazon SES#Small Business#Stripe#Automation

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Breathing Success Into Distributed Teams: The Role of Onboarding

September 30, 2025

An exploratory Lab on why onboarding is essential for distributed agencies and how reusable patterns like welcome packets, clarity maps, and internal portals set the foundation for project success.

#Onboarding#Agency Operations#Project Management#Processes#Distributed Teams

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Onboarding as the First Act of Leadership

September 30, 2025

A conversational exploration of why onboarding matters in distributed agencies, and how to create clarity and stability for both large teams and individuals without heavy bureaucracy.

#Onboarding#Agency Operations#Leadership#Distributed Teams

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Reflections on Sharing the Climb

September 30, 2025

A personal reflection on the joy of seeing others discover web technologies, CMSs, and integrations for the first time—and how those moments of teaching and learning keep the craft alive.

#Reflection#Mentorship#Craft#Web Development#CMS

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When Users Scrape with ChatGPT: Understanding Agent-Driven Retrieval

September 29, 2025

An exploration of how users leverage ChatGPT and AI agents to fetch, scrape, and interpret content from the web — what it looks like, why it happens, and what it means for site owners.

#AI#Agents#Scraping#Web#Security#Infrastructure

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Making Sense of Context Windows: The Invisible Limits of AI Memory

September 29, 2025

A narrative exploration of what context windows are in AI systems, how they work technically, and why understanding their limits is essential for everyday use.

#AI#Context Windows#LLM#Memory#Usage

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From Prompts to Pixels: A Designer’s Guide to Reliable Tailwind & Front-End Outputs with GPT-5

September 29, 2025

A practical narrative on how AI-generated front-end design has evolved, and how UX/UI designers can craft prompts for Tailwind CSS and pixel-perfect code with GPT-5 and GPT-5 Codex.

#Tailwind#Frontend#UX/UI#Prompts#Design Systems

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