From working software to industry standard — a roadmap for the next five years.
The core framework is built and working. Self-hosted validator proves it works for real problems. Preparing to share it with the world.
This is the foundation — years of research distilled into working code that solves its own hardest problems. The validator AG validates itself, proving the concept is sound.
The framework is public. First developers are trying it. Getting feedback, improving documentation, helping early users build their first tools. Starting consulting work.
The moment it goes from private project to public infrastructure. Real people using it for real problems. Every bug report and feature request makes it stronger.
A growing community. 5–10 companies using the framework. Known in the TypeScript developer tools space. Consulting revenue covers expenses. Starting to think about first hire.
The framework is proving itself in production. Word is spreading through developer communities. The consulting work funds everything, and there's enough demand to consider growing the team.
The framework is the default choice for new TS code-analysis projects. Small team (2–3 people). Product revenue growing alongside consulting. Community contributing grammars and examples.
A tipping point: new projects in this space start with the framework by default instead of building from scratch. The community is self-reinforcing — more grammars attract more users.
Industry recognition. Other open-source tools are building on the framework. Job postings mention it. Enterprise customers. The “standard” is forming.
The moment you know something has arrived: when people you've never met are teaching others how to use it. When job postings list it as a skill. When enterprises are paying for support.
The “Tree-sitter moment” — it's so obviously the right tool that new projects default to it. A standard part of the developer tools stack. Small, excellent, profitable company doing important work.
Like Tree-sitter for parsing, or React for UI — it becomes the thing you reach for without thinking. Not because of hype, but because it genuinely solves the problem better than anything else.
Solo creators who built foundational infrastructure and changed their fields.
Started as one engineer's project at GitHub. Became the universal parsing layer. Now used by every major editor.
What they proved: One person can build infrastructure that an entire ecosystem depends on.
Solo creator with a novel compiler approach. Widely adopted framework. Hired by Vercel. Industry standard.
What they proved: A fundamentally better idea, clearly communicated, attracts both users and employers.
Solo creator. Patreon-funded. Built a company. Millions in revenue. Independent and profitable.
What they proved: OSS infrastructure can be a real business without VC if the community is strong enough.
Open-source ORM. Funded startup. Standard database toolkit for Node/TS. Millions in ARR.
What they proved: Developer tools in the TS ecosystem can become venture-scale businesses.
Success means: meaningful work that I'm proud of. A small company that's sustainable and impactful. Being known for solving an important problem. Supporting myself well doing work I love.
This isn't about building the next unicorn. It's about building something real — something that matters to the people who use it, that earns a good living, and that I can point to and say: I made that, and it made things better.