Independent Software Studio · Est. 2026

Tempered like steel.
Built with heart.

An independent, one-person studio where hard-won product judgment meets real care for the people using it.

The framework

Steel and heart, held together.

The name isn't decoration. It's how the work gets made — product judgment on one side, the reason it matters on the other.

STEEL

Product judgment — knowing what's worth building, and holding the bar.
  • Built on real data.Runs on real production data from real use — not demos or mockups.
  • AI that clears the busywork.Most of the distance between understanding a problem and solving it is busywork. AI removes it — leaving the user and the craft.
  • Software that holds up.Built small, built to last, and used by the person who made it.

HEART

The reason the work is worth doing.
  • Go where the user is.A former product exec's instinct to sit with users and see the product through their eyes.
  • Details that delight.The small, unasked-for touches that make software feel considered.
  • Build what you'd use.If it isn't good enough for my own use, it isn't done.
Products

What the studio is building

One shipping product, two in development — each held to the same standard.

In beta

Chalkfield Sports

Youth-softball coaching analytics. Capture exit and throw velocity, then turn it into each player's capability, peak, and trend over the season.

Visit Chalkfield Sports
In development

Health-data intelligence

Making sense of personal health data — turning scattered signals into something you can actually reason about. Details to come.

Not yet named
In development

Audio-first learning

Learning designed for the ears — a way to make real progress in the time you already spend listening. Details to come.

Not yet named

"My heart is in the work."

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie founded Carnegie Mellon — my alma mater. The name and the mark carry that Pittsburgh origin: steel for the standard the work is held to, and a bridge for the span between a problem and its solution. It's where the standard comes from, not where the studio sits.

Contact

Building something, or want to?

If you're building something, thinking about it, or just want to compare notes — reach out.

tony@steelheartlabs.com
MOCKUP · Steel & Heart (chosen) · v2