From selling ice cream to building software.

No engineers. No CS degree. Just AI.

I went from running ice cream shops to building software for operators like me. This is where I share what I'm learning.

Where to start

Hi, I'm Alex Kassab.

I build the tools my business actually needs, and show other operators how to do the same.

You know your business better than any software company ever will. You've sat through vendor demos that miss the point. You've paid monthly fees for tools that solve someone else's problems. You've thought, "I wish I could just build this myself."

You can. That's what this site is about.

Currently

Shipping an inventory thing for the shops. Writing a series on "software for operators, by operators." Picking up Astro slowly, by refusing to read docs.

Find me

Talk to me.

I answer. Slowly, but I answer.

Direct

now.txt

updated weekly. /now is a thing.

This week

• Updating this website.
• Stripping down features on Onbranded to make it simpler.
• Generating content for the blog.
• Understanding ad campaigns via AI.

the shops.

Morelia Gourmet Paletas — handcrafted paletas and ice cream across the US.

Where we are

20+ locations across seven states. If you like ice cream, come visit any of them.

Building in public.

2406 commits in the last year. Pulled from GitHub at deploy.

Links

Trash

2 files · last emptied never

# do not deploy this
# i already rotated everything, don't get excited

DATABASE_URL=postgres://alex:ilovepistachio@localhost:5432/scoops
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_dontTryIt_thisIsFake
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-ImNotReal_nice_try
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_alreadyRotated_so_cute_of_you
RESEND_API_KEY=re_placeholder_butThanks
SESSION_SECRET=notMyRealSecretObviously
ADMIN_PASSWORD=openSesame   # please no. i was 22.
SCOOP_OPS_DB_URL=postgres://readonly:banana@db.internal/ops

NODE_ENV=production
PORT=3000

In my defense

I'm a newbie coder. Not a dumb one.

real secrets live in Vercel. these are fake. i committed .env exactly once, three years ago, and my bank account survived. you learn.

every one of these taught me something. most taught me to hire better or stop faster.