Rich Steinmetz · software engineer · since 2015
I build software. Lately I mostly direct the machines that build it.
Ruby, Rails, web APIs, and a rotating cast of coding agents on real production work. The long version is below — it got long, so I sealed it.
01 · The whole thing, compressed
Everything, in one paragraph.
It is a lot of paragraph. Press the seal.
Vacuum-packed · press to declassify
TL;DR Helping product teams build software since 2015. Currently rotating Claude Code, Codex & Copilot models in Pi, Hermes and vanilla harnesses. Grew up with Java-JS-Python. Then Ruby. Rails. More JS. API. UX. DX. AX. Dug ML and terminals before AI was that cool. Marketing, sales, and entrepreneurship as a hobby. Meetup organizer online (e.g. Rails.Builders) and in-person (e.g. early Barcelona.rb). Minimum once-per-year conference lurker. Speaker with podcast experiments. Speaking German 🇩🇪, Russian 🇷🇺, English 🇺🇸, and Spanish 🇪🇸 fluently, but none particularly well. Serial blog killer 🔫 (RichStoneIO 2021-2025, datagoodie 2017-2019, pro poker player adventures 2011-2014). Ex-poker player. Ex-numismatic sales assistant. Video games, board games, card games, and football hobbyist. Enjoying thinking in odds & bets. Periodically building communities. Calisthenics noob 🤸♀️. I do look forward to a good ice bath once or twice a year. Raising some fun small people.
02 · Contact
Ping me.
Work, Rails, agents, or a bad idea you want a second opinion on.
Contact me
One human reads these. Usually within a day or two.
Lands in my ClickFunnels workspace, which is the software I help building during the day and where you will be subscribed to the Loop Labs newsletter.
What usually happens next
If it is a project, I ask what you have already tried and what "done" looks like. If it is Rails or agent plumbing, expect a straight answer and probably a link. If I am the wrong person for it, I say so and point somewhere better.
No pitch deck, no discovery call funnel. Just email.
Got it. 📨
I read these myself, so give me a day or two. While you wait, pick a door:
Leveling up as AI Engineer?
Jump into the Loop Labs 🧪Business driven Rails Builder?
Drive with the Rails.Builders 🚂03 · A small experiment
Agent vs Operator.
You are the operator. It has more throughput than you have hands. Push the loop to your side before it pushes it to its own.
1 = bit · 8 = byte
bit → 1 mass, costs 9 buffer, moves fast · byte → 4 mass, costs 34 buffer, moves slow
heavier packet wins the collision and keeps the difference · buffer refills on its own
the agent speeds up the longer you take — it scales, you do not