How I got here
I received my first computer, the Commodore 64, in 1988 at age 13. While most were satisfied with playing the games and using its word processor programs, I employed myself to learn the BASIC programming language the system utilized. Why? I don’t know. I enjoyed copying pages and pages of “IF” or “OR”, & “AND” statements that would culminate in one little 8 pixel hot air balloon moving side to side. Then I would go back and change the color. Then save it to a 5 1/4″ floppy disk. I did hundreds of these exercises until I was fluent in BASIC.
The first program I authored was a couple years later on the Commodore 128. I wrote a program in BASIC for an interface where someone could type in musical notes A, B, C, etc. and denote the note length/count, and the output was actual sheet music, with time signature denoted, all on a treble clef staff, printed onto paper with my Okidata 120 tractor feed printer. I was enthralled. I had no real use for a Palm Pilot, but I had one. Black and white, then color. I have since been the go-to guy for any tech help or setup in every stage of life. In college I was given one of the first 2000 beta Gmail accounts before release to the public. The rest is current history.
Why I chase 100s
Fast forward to 2020, when some of my hobbies began to grow into businesses, aka side hustles. No business is complete without a website these days. In fact they might as well not even exist without any online presence. So I tasked myself with learning the modern skill sets required to publish websites. In doing so I inadvertently crashed through and above a threshold I was completely unaware existed.
In pursuit of first page search results for my websites on Google, I used Google’s Lighthouse audit to measure my sites’ performance characteristics. On a scale of 0-100, Lighthouse grades website speed, accessibility, proper code practices, and Search Engine Optimization quality. I pursued 100s in all categories in an effort to remove any obstacles between me, my sites, and first page search results. I had crossed over into a realm the web development community perceives as impossible, or possible only with major limits on functions. In my experience, few chase scores that high. I have 100s (see the results). I have 100s while performing every single function or process that web developers, as a whole, are taught is impossible or not worth the effort. That is what I would most likely also say if my sites in production did not have scores of 100 in all four measured areas of site performance and safety mechanisms. Check the case studies for reallivebonsai.us, hsvdrone.com, and themeaningsoflife.com.
I am here to tell you that it is absolutely worth the effort and definitely not impossible to run an e-commerce site while nailing scores of 100 in all metrics. Nor is it impossible to serve landing pages that play video upon page load at all scores of 100. I now have a non-negotiable self requirement that all pages I build and publish must have the same scores. I now have my own self taught process for building this level of performance into any digital experience I build, from keystroke number one.
What that means for your project
I purpose build web and app digital experiences for businesses that see the value in owning a web presence that outperforms the vast majority of sites online today, often for far less than a multi-person agency charges (see pricing). They have to pay whole teams and offload certain aspects of the builds to others who specialize in a particular area they aren’t tooled or skilled to develop. I have me, myself, and I. Me, myself, and I have acquired specialist level proficiency in building all functional areas of a website. I differentiate yet again from my competition because I wire all of these functions together personally, with intent, and no missed targets from handoffs of the build. One guy from start to finish with laser focus on every site build’s aim. Nothing gets lost. Everything gets gained. Performance, quality architecture based SEO, focus, and the highest performing results. One guy.
—OchAI