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: February 6, 2026Updated weekly

Featured experimentalpha

Secrets Management Early: Designing for Production Before You Think You Need It

A deep dive on how I approached secrets management early in a multi-tenant, GPT-integrated, production system and what I learned the hard way.

#secrets#security#devops

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Lab archive

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Understanding Multi-Tenancy: Patterns, Pitfalls, and Practical Design

February 6, 2026

A deep, practical introduction to multi-tenancy, common architectures, and the real-world pitfalls when adding it to existing systems.

#architecture#multi-tenancy#saas#databases#system-design

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Designing a Multi-Store SaaS Platform with C4

February 5, 2026

A deep dive into how I used C4 modeling to clarify a multi-store ecommerce SaaS where one user can run unlimited niche stores.

#c4#architecture#saas#multi-tenant#ecommerce

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Multi-Tenant OpenAPI Action Gateways for Custom GPTs on Vercel

February 5, 2026

How I built a single Vercel-hosted API that serves many Custom GPTs via OpenAPI, with strict tenant isolation and safe action execution into warehouses/lakes.

#openapi#custom-gpts#vercel#multi-tenant#security#data-warehouse#actions

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Raising Funds for Kingdom Compass Holdings Company

December 19, 2025

Kingdom Compass Holdings Company (KCH), a Texas-based holding company founded in 2025, seeks $5-10M in funding to acquire high-value mobility assets and scale its demand-driven transportation marketplace through Modal Booking. The HoldCo → OpCo structure ensures asset security, operational efficiency, and scalable growth, with opportunities for asset appreciation, recurring revenue, and tokenized equity. KCH targets high-demand markets including the 2026 FIFA World Cup and IndyCar races, leveraging partnerships and technology to generate returns for investors.

#fundraising#mobility#technology#investment#transportation#HoldCo#OpCo#Modal Booking#Kingdom Compass Holdings#asset management

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Modal Booking

December 4, 2025

Revolutionizing Transportation, Leveraging Relationships, and Building Trusti in a Network

#InnovationOverHype#BuildingBridges#TechWithPurpose#HoldCoExpansion#InvestInMovement#RelationshipDrivenGrowth#FutureOfTech#ModalBooking#KCHInvestment#BeyondSoftware

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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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