Jordi: Back then, we hired a lot of interns. It wasn’t just about budget - we deliberately structured the team that way and invested our resources elsewhere. Some of those interns are still with us today, so I don’t regret it.

But looking back, bringing in a few more experienced people earlier might have helped us move faster and make better calls sooner. Experience upfront accelerates progress — it’s less about avoiding pain and more about building momentum early. Especially now that AI takes care of so much of the junior-level busywork.

I’d also stop building internal tools that aren’t part of the core product. We once managed subscriptions in Excel - it worked too well and accidentally became its own system. It wasn’t our focus, but it stuck around far too long.

Only build what’s essential to your core. For everything else, use tools that already exist. We never built authentication or email infrastructure ourselves - others already do that better. That decision saved us focus.

Looking back, having a few more experienced people early on could’ve helped us move even faster. Experience upfront builds momentum - especially now that AI can assist with much of the work.

What’s your favorite tool — the one you reach for first?

Jordi: Superhuman. It’s the first tool I open and the only email app that doesn’t fight for my attention. It helps me get things done, then gets out of the way.

Linear is another. Simple, fast, and built for people who actually ship.

And AI coding assistants — they’ve changed the game. The speed and clarity they bring to development are hard to ignore.

What’s an unpopular tech opinion you hold?

Jordi: Developers should work in the office. I get the remote appeal — fewer distractions, deeper focus — but in small, fast-moving teams, in-person collaboration creates a different kind of energy.

You learn by hearing others at work. You catch feedback from clients or investors as it happens. You celebrate wins together and notice when someone’s stuck or in flow. Those unplanned moments shape stronger teams and better products.

It’s not about control — it’s about connection. Remote has its place, but some of the best learning and problem-solving happens when people share the same space.

What process did you remove that sped things up?

Jordi: Scrum.

With a team of six, all the ceremonies and rituals just got in the way. We switched to async updates in Linear — people write when they have something useful to say.
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Fewer meetings. More flow. More shipping.

When we dropped the ceremonies, we built a rhythm around clarity instead of velocity. Everyone owned the outcome.

What’s one hard-earned lesson you’d pass to other builders?

Jordi: Balance your MVP with scalability. We built fast, got great traction — but too much of it still required manual setup by our team.

That’s fine at first, but when adoption grows, you hit a wall.

Build self-service early, even if it feels secondary. Because when your MVP works, that manual layer will crush your speed.

Wrapping up

Jordi’s answers cut right to the point — sharp, grounded, and shaped by years of building hands-on.

From skipping in-house tools that drain focus, to dropping Scrum in favor of flow, to pushing for teams that actually sit together — his perspective is a reminder that great engineering is as much about discipline as it is about speed.

Leading tech today isn’t about building faster — it’s about knowing what not to build.
That’s what the Builders CTO Network is here for: to surface lessons from real builders leading real teams — the ones shaping the future, not following it.