Building LaNuit Tech: Lessons from Starting a Development Company
Every company starts with a story. This is mine — the lessons learned, the challenges faced, and the approach that's worked.
The Origin: A Problem Worth Solving
LaNuit Tech started from a simple observation: businesses often need similar core functionality, but wrapped in their specific business logic.
I was freelancing, building custom solutions for local businesses, when I noticed a pattern: everyone needed the same core functionality, but they all wanted it wrapped in their specific business logic. E-commerce platforms, booking systems, content management — the underlying architecture was similar, but the implementation was always custom.
That's when it hit me: what if we could build platforms that were both powerful and adaptable?
The Early Days: Building in the Dark
The First Product
Our first real product was a real estate platform for a client in Oslo. They needed something that could handle:
Instead of building just another custom solution, I architected it as a platform — modular, scalable, and reusable.
The client loved it. More importantly, I realized we had something bigger than a single project.
The Pivot Moment
Six months in, we had three clients using variations of our real estate platform. But each implementation required significant customization. We were essentially running three different products with shared components.
This is where most companies would either:
1. Pick one variation and abandon the others
2. Try to force everyone onto a single, inflexible solution
3. Accept the maintenance nightmare
We chose a fourth option: rebuild the core as a true platform with configurable modules.
The Technology Stack: Choosing Our Weapons
When you're building for multiple clients with varying needs, your technology choices become critical. Here's what we landed on and why:
Frontend: Next.js + TypeScript
Backend: Node.js + PostgreSQL
Infrastructure: Docker + AWS
The Platform Architecture
Our modular approach allowed clients to compose their platform from pre-built, tested components.
The Challenges: When Nothing Goes as Planned
Technical Debt in a Multi-Client Environment
Managing technical debt across multiple client implementations taught us hard lessons:
The Scaling Paradox
As we grew, we faced an interesting problem: our platform's flexibility was both our biggest strength and our biggest weakness. Clients loved that they could get exactly what they wanted, but it made our codebase increasingly complex.
The Team Challenge
Hiring for a platform company is different from hiring for a product company. We needed developers who could:
The Breakthrough: Finding Our Rhythm
By year two, we'd found our rhythm. We had:
The Media Platform
One interesting project involved building a content management system. By focusing on core platform components rather than industry-specific features, we could reuse architectural patterns:
This modular approach allows for faster development and more maintainable systems.
Scaling Considerations
A platform-first approach enables:
Approach:
Lessons Learned
1. Platform Thinking is a Mindset
You can't just decide to build a platform after the fact. Platform thinking needs to be embedded in your architecture from day one.
2. Clients Don't Buy Platforms, They Buy Solutions
We learned to lead with business outcomes, not technical architecture. Clients care about what the platform enables, not how it's built.
3. Documentation is Your Competitive Moat
In a platform business, your documentation quality directly impacts client success. Invest in it early and heavily.
4. The Team is the Product
Our biggest asset isn't our code — it's the team that understands how to think in systems and build for adaptability.
What's Next: The Vision Forward
LaNuit Tech is evolving beyond custom platform implementations. We're building:
The Developer Platform
Tools and SDKs that let other development teams build on our platform architecture.
The AI Integration Layer
Leveraging modern AI tools to make our platforms more intelligent and adaptive.
The Global Marketplace
A way for businesses to discover and implement platform modules that fit their specific needs.
The Philosophy That Drives Us
At its core, LaNuit Tech is built on a simple belief: technology should adapt to business needs, not the other way around.
Every platform we build, every module we create, every architecture decision we make serves this principle.
We're not just building software — we're building the foundation for businesses to grow, adapt, and dominate their markets.
Conclusion
The journey from late-night coding sessions to a global platform company hasn't been linear. We've made mistakes, learned hard lessons, and constantly evolved our approach.
But every challenge has reinforced our core belief: the future belongs to adaptive systems, not rigid solutions.
LaNuit Tech represents a philosophy: technology should adapt to business needs, not the other way around.
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Interested in building the next chapter with us? [Let's talk](/contact) about how LaNuit Tech can power your vision.