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With the recent tech downturn, there's been a clear shift. Instead of the previous "growth-at-all-costs" model, companies are now emphasizing efficiency. This is evident in hiring, as firms now seek experienced contributors who can hit the ground running with minimal management or development. This shift has laid the groundwork for something I've been championing: fractional work.

Back in 2017, we started Moonlight with a simple idea: help engineers find part-time, remote jobs. Combining part-time with remote work was a big leap then, so we quickly narrowed our focus to just remote work. However, since the pandemic, remote work has accelerated to mainstream. Now, I firmly believe part-time tech roles will soon follow suit.

From our experience with Moonlight, we found that most engineering managers prefer hiring for steady, ongoing work relationships rather than transient, fixed-scope projects. These enduring relationships proved to be mutually beneficial, providing stability for companies and workers in a working style legible to both.

Lately, I've seen many talented friends and colleagues moving into fractional roles. They're carving out more personal time while maintaining the same income. Personally, fractional work has empowered me to pursue my entrepreneurial goals without worrying about runway or funding. It's no surprise that hiring managers are gravitating towards this, appreciating the time saved from exhaustive hiring processes.

Today I'm introducing FRCTNL - a community of fractional developers, designers, and marketers. Distinct from traditional marketplaces focused on top-down projects, FRCTNL focuses on often-overlooked bottoms-up, relationship-centric "staff augmentation" roles. Hiring managers seek quality candidates referred by their existing team, and direct relationships with talent — this is the niche FRCTNL aims to serve.

FRCTNL operates on a referral model, where members help swap and share opportunities with each other. The underlying hypothesis is that there is latent demand for fractional talent, and that connecting with existing fractional workers is the best way to find those open roles. I'm convinced that our fractional worker network will streamline hiring for companies and further mainstream part-time roles.

Support FRCTNL's launch today on Product Hunt, and join the community at frctnl.xyz.

- Philip

Having seen that happen so many times is one of the things that convinces me that working for oneself, or at least for a small group, is the natural way for programmers to live.

- Paul Graham, You weren't meant to have a boss

P.S.: FRCTNL uses Booklet, a forthcoming forum + directory software from Contraption Co.

Today I'm launching Postcard, the easiest way to make a personal website. In 5 minutes, you can create a page that looks great on any device - with no coding or design skills required. Host it on your domain, and build a long-term mailing list.

Want to try it out? Sign up at postcard.page, and support the launch on Product Hunt.

Owning your identity on the internet

It's simple to make a profile on a social media site. Add a name, photo, and cover photo - you’re done. Why can't making a website be that easy?

Personal homepages have a long history on the internet. They're a place to share your personal story - work, hobbies, interests, and more. You can link to them from your social media profiles, and they appear in Google when somebody searches your name. You can even set up a professional email address linked to your custom domain name.

But creating a personal website is hard and time-consuming to maintain. You need to learn HTML and CSS or use a website builder like Squarespace or Wix. These tools are great, but they're expensive and complicated - because they're built for businesses, not individuals.

Postcard is a new kind of website builder. It’s easy to use, and free to get started. You can create a page in minutes, and the site looks great on any device. And if you want to make a change, you can do it in seconds. But, under the hood - a lot of sophisticated technology keeps your site fast, responsive, and secure.

Write once, share everywhere

Over the last two years, I've mostly quit Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I largely replaced social media with newsletters and blogs to stay in touch. But I still wanted a long-term place to share my thoughts and ideas and connect with people.

Postcard includes a simple newsletter system with light blog functionality. You can write a post that shows up on your homepage and sends emails to your subscribers.

I've been writing on my Postcard for months, and it's been a great way to stay in touch with friends, family, and my internet community. It’s even prompted me to connect with people I've never met before and share my ideas with a broader audience.

Postcard adds sophisticated meta tags to each post that look professional when shared on social media. So, you can write once on Postcard - then share across networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

A dependable tool

Postcard marks the first launch from Contraption Co., fulfilling the goal of building dependable tools for the internet age. Postcard is built to be stable and serve its customers long-term. There are no ads, and the business model is simple and fair.

Check out some of my favorite Postcard pages that are already online:

• emmalawler.com
• ivana.page
• ericoneil.me
• harrymoy.com

Try it out, and let me know what you think.

- Philip

Today I'm introducing my new business, The Contraption Company - a product studio building dependable software tools for online work.

Slow growth makes steady progress

In the past, I've built VC-backed startups like Moonlight and Staffjoy. For these companies, we worked hard to build a community of customers. But, over time, these businesses either shut down or were acquired. Startups must grow fast to continue existing.

Slow growth is under-appreciated. Traction compounds over time for businesses with recurring revenue as long as you've built something people want. As the brand grows, you naturally end up with more traffic and higher conversions. Staffjoy is an example of this - even though the business shut down seven years ago, the website now gets more traffic than it did when the company was active.

A focus on dependability

"Cool project, but I'm not going to switch to it if you're just going to shut it down in a year."

This is a common sentiment I hear from people when I tell them about a new product I'm working on. And, it's fair. KilledByGoogle.com currently lists 275 different products that Google shut down.

The technology industry has trained its customers to be skeptical.

• That "free" plan? It could be selling your data.
• That new product you've deeply integrated into your life? They might raise prices in a year.
• Signed up for a new app? Prepare for an onslaught of emails and notifications.
• Have a problem? Publicly pleading for help on Twitter may be the only way to get a human response.

I want to build products that people can rely on, and this is why the core focus for Contraption Co. is dependability.

Here's what dependability means to me:

• Simple, reliable tools: We build for the long term. We will maintain products that have customers.
• Explicit business models: We don't sell your data. We won't price gouge you.
• Utility, not noise: We build calm products. We don't bother you with constant notifications or annoying emails.
• Support from humans: We have real people who answer your questions and fix problems.

Helping people work online

When we started Moonlight in 2017 to help engineers work remotely, distributed work was still a fringe concept. The pandemic accelerated a transformation of the modern workplace. But, new problems emerged - with Zoom fatigue plaguing workers and mouse jigglers becoming a standard tool.

Contraption Co. focuses on building products that help people work online. Society still applies factory-like work practices to knowledge work, and we need to challenge those norms. We're only just learning to work online and need tools for better collaboration, communication, and time management.

More news coming soon

A product studio structure means that Contraption Co. is separate from its products - modeled after companies like 37Signals, Wildfire, and prehype.

My goal for the company is longevity. If a product fails, the company will still be around. As long as a product has customers, the company can maintain it. I want to build this company long-term, with people aligned on a similar mission.

Stay tuned - I'm launching the first product next week. Subscribe below to get notified when it's ready.

- Philip

Those of us with business ideas? We need a company.

Not for the money, but because it’s our place to experiment, create, and turn thoughts into reality. We need to pursue our intrinsic motivation.

We have so many interesting ideas and theories. We need to try them!

The happiest people are not lounging on beaches. They’re engaged in interesting work!

- Derek Sivers