Quarterly Knowledge Base

Philosophy

6 min read

Company Philosophy

Quarterly Systems is built on a foundation of principles that prioritize people over scale, creativity over convention, and ownership over dependency. Our approach to building software reflects a belief that the best tools are made for specific communities, not mass markets.

Core Principles

Vibe Coding

Vibe coding is about building software that feels right, not just software that works. It’s an approach that values:

  • Intuition over process - Trust your instincts about what users need
  • Speed over perfection - Ship quickly, iterate based on real feedback
  • Joy over optimization - Build things that are fun to use and fun to make
  • Experimentation over planning - Try ideas in production, learn from users

Vibe coding doesn’t mean sloppy coding. It means prioritizing the human experience of both building and using software over rigid methodologies and premature optimization.

In practice:

  • OKR.surf has a spaceship command center aesthetic because work should feel epic
  • Vibe News uses collaborative curation because discovery should be social
  • Branch focuses on finding friends, not building networks

Clubware, Not Software

From Branch: “I wasn’t looking for a network map. I was looking for friends.”

Clubware is software at human scale. Software for one person, one family, one small circle of friends. Not mass software. Not enterprise software. Club software.

See the full Clubware Manifesto for complete principles.

Characteristics of clubware:

  • Small by design - Built for ~8-50 people, not millions
  • Weird on purpose - Embraces unconventional features and interfaces
  • Community-first - Serves specific groups with specific needs
  • No growth pressure - Success isn’t measured in user counts
  • Personal connection - You know who you’re building for

Examples:

  • OKR.surf is designed for ~8 person teams, not enterprises
  • BorelCorp is built specifically for Kathryn Borel
  • Water Tracker is a personal tool with no deployment

This philosophy draws inspiration from:

And is formalized in:

Local-First Architecture

Quarterly Systems prioritizes local-first design patterns where data lives on user devices, not in corporate clouds.

Core tenets:

  • Privacy by default - Data stays on your device unless you choose to sync
  • Works offline - Core functionality doesn’t require internet
  • User ownership - You control your data, not us
  • Fast by nature - Local operations are instant
  • Sync when needed - Collaboration happens through peer-to-peer or minimal servers

Technology choices:

  • Fireproof - Used in The Body Electric for local-first weight tracking
  • InstantDB - Powers real-time collaboration in OKR.surf and VoteWar
  • localStorage - Simple persistence in Water Tracker
  • IndexedDB - Browser-based storage for offline-capable apps

Benefits:

  • Users aren’t locked into our services
  • Privacy is architectural, not policy
  • Apps work anywhere, anytime
  • No vendor dependency for critical data

See Tech Stack for detailed implementation patterns.

Business-Grade Vibe Coding

While we embrace experimentation and speed, we maintain professional standards where it matters:

Professional foundations:

  • TypeScript - Type safety prevents runtime errors
  • Real-time collaboration - InstantDB enables true multiplayer experiences
  • Automated deployment - GitHub Actions, Cloudflare Pages, Railway
  • Observability - Umami analytics, worker logs, status monitoring
  • Security - Cloudflare Access, encrypted messaging, secure-by-default patterns

The balance:

  • Move fast, but write tests for critical paths
  • Ship experiments, but monitor production carefully
  • Build for friends, but respect their time and data
  • Embrace weird UIs, but make them accessible

Design Philosophy

Aesthetic Coherence

Every application should have a clear visual identity that matches its purpose:

  • OKR.surf - Spaceship command center (BSG/The Expanse aesthetic)
  • Jump Higher - Tony Robbins-inspired navy/gold motivational design
  • The Body Electric - Clean, data-focused health tracking
  • BorelCorp - Authentic 1990s corporate web styling

Design is not decoration—it communicates what the tool is for and how it should feel to use.

Transparent Operations

We build in public and operate transparently:

  • Status Dashboard - Real-time activity feeds and location tracking
  • Open source templates - Obsidian templates shared publicly
  • Insights - Video documentation of building process and lessons learned
  • This Knowledge Base - Public documentation of how everything works

Transparency builds trust and helps others learn from our work.

Experimental Mindset

Quarterly Systems maintains Quarterly Labs as a space for exploration:

  • Try new technologies before committing
  • Build prototypes to test ideas
  • Share experiments even if they’re unfinished
  • Learn from failures publicly

Current experiments:

Not every experiment becomes a product. That’s the point.

Technology Philosophy

Choose Boring Technology (Where It Matters)

For infrastructure and data persistence:

  • Cloudflare Pages - Proven, fast, reliable static hosting
  • PostgreSQL - Battle-tested database (Neon for Vibe News)
  • Git - Version control for content and code
  • Railway - Simple, reliable deployment platform

Choose Exciting Technology (Where It Helps)

For user experience and development speed:

  • InstantDB - Real-time collaboration made simple
  • Bun - Fast runtime for modern TypeScript projects
  • Astro - Islands architecture for performance
  • Quartz - Digital garden features out of the box

The rule: Boring for reliability, exciting for velocity.

Community Philosophy

Building for ~8 Person Teams

Most of our tools are designed for small teams:

Why small teams?

  • Everyone knows each other
  • No need for complex permissions
  • Decisions happen quickly
  • Culture is coherent
  • Tools can be opinionated

Open Source When Possible

We share what we build:

  • K5M Obsidian Template - Productivity frameworks
  • VibeCode Platform - Fork of open source vibes.diy
  • This Knowledge Base - Public documentation

The exception: Client work like BorelCorp and Jump Higher remains proprietary unless clients choose otherwise.

What We’re Not

To clarify our philosophy, here’s what Quarterly Systems explicitly is not:

  • Not building for scale - We don’t optimize for millions of users
  • Not chasing funding - We’re not on the VC treadmill
  • Not focused on growth - Success isn’t measured in DAUs or MRR
  • Not enterprise-focused - We build for small teams, not corporations
  • Not following frameworks - We use what fits, ignore what doesn’t
  • Not obsessing over perfection - Shipped beats polished

Our philosophy is influenced by and documented in:

Living Philosophy

This philosophy isn’t static. It evolves as we build, learn, and discover what works.

Current explorations:

  • How small can successful software be?
  • What does real-time collaboration enable for small teams?
  • Can AI tools accelerate vibe coding without losing the vibe?
  • What happens when game rules are themselves tradeable assets? (VoteWar)

This philosophy guides our work but doesn’t dictate it. When principles conflict with user needs, users win.

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