I sell property and I build software. Both, properly.

The short version

I started in residential in 2022 — houses in Kent, Auburn and Federal Way, first-time buyers, families moving up. That’s still a good part of the week. My first commercial deal closed that same year. By 2023 the specialised end had taken over: gas stations, c-stores and truck stops turned out to be the corner of the market where the numbers are hardest to get right, which is exactly why I stayed in it. That specialty is where the top-3 Washington ranking came from.

The software half started because the tools I needed didn’t exist. I owned truck-parking lots and was taking booking calls by hand, so I built Flame Truck Parking. Carriers on the I-5 corridor needed dispatch and settlements, so I built Flame Freight. I was running a team on spreadsheets, so I built Birchspace. All three are live, all three have customers who aren’t me, and they taught me more about product than any client project would have.

What the two halves share is a bias against pleasant fiction. A valuation that flatters you loses you money six months later, and a design that tests well in a deck fails on a phone in a truck cab. I’d rather give you the uncomfortable number early.