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Ministry of Bits Newsletter

Bits & Grit

The Smaller Doorway

The Smaller Doorway

Sometimes the product you believe in most is not the easiest product for people to understand first. I’m building Outpost partly because Sherpa has been harder to get noticed than I expected. Shop management software for decorator apparel businesses is not exactly the kind of thing people stop scrol...

26th Apr 2026 - Patrick Salo
When Staying on Track Doesn’t Look Like the Plan

When Staying on Track Doesn’t Look Like the Plan

I expected this week to move Outpost further forward. Instead, it became a reminder that for small independent businesses, staying on track does not always look like doing the thing you planned. Sometimes current customers and existing products are more important than work on future products.

As a...

19th Apr 2026 - Patrick Salo
When the Right Pivot Doesn’t Feel Like Progress

When the Right Pivot Doesn’t Feel Like Progress

This week felt like I got less done than planned, but the pivot was strategically correct and may even pay off twice.

With the major part of the Outpost user interface done, the next step should be fairly smooth sailing. I expected to get the data structure in place, lock down the workflow, and th...

12th Apr 2026 - Patrick Salo
When Reality Pushes Back

When Reality Pushes Back

I started this week thinking I was making progress. In reality, I was still testing assumptions. This week was a reminder that the product in your head is almost never the product reality wants.

Outpost is going to be much more database heavy than other Ministry of Bits products, so early on in th...

5th Apr 2026 - Patrick Salo