About Me

Hi, I’m Felix.

I build things. Mostly with code, often involving complex data, and always with the goal of solving hard problems.

I’m based in Canberra, Australia, and I’m currently navigating the challenging, often isolating, but deeply rewarding path of a solo technical founder.

For the past few years, I’ve been sharing my thoughts on LinkedIn and in various newsletters, analyzing everything from the intricacies of stochastic architecture to the failings of Australian Public Service (APS) data strategies.

This site is my new home on the web - a central repository for my writing, my projects, and the lessons I’m learning as I build.

My goal here is simple: to share what I learn. Teaching and sharing are fundamental motivators for me, and writing helps me synthesize my own thinking. If you’re interested in the intersection of deep technology, data architecture, and the realities of bootstrapping a technical business outside the traditional startup hubs, you’re in the right place.

My journey from Economics to Enterprise Architecture

I never studied computer science. My formal education is in Economics.

While I no longer work in the field, Economics provided me with a crucial framework for thinking about complex systems, cost-benefit analysis, and the incentives that drive human (and organizational) behaviour. It’s a perspective that continues to serve me well in software engineering.

I started writing software in 25 years ago in high school, teaching myself C++. Since then, my career has been a winding path through different domains, always centered on data and systems thinking:

  • The Public Servant (13 Years): I spent over a decade inside the Federal Government, working across a number of agencies including the Productivity Commission and the ATO. I saw firsthand the challenges of managing data at an enterprise scale, the immense value locked within government information, and the liabilities created by "black box" systems. This experience shaped my views on open data, transparency, and the critical need for trustworthy technology in high-stakes environments.
  • The Architect and Engineer: Transitioning out of government, I led data engineering and software teams in both the startup world (Zoomo) and large enterprises (Qantas Loyalty). I’ve architected enterprise data lakes, built CI/CD pipelines, and managed high-volume, data-intensive services on both AWS and GCP.
  • The Founder: My path eventually led me to embrace the "Solo Enterprise Architect" archetype. I co-founded Psithur (a SaaS platform for graph analytics) and am currently building AXONLORE, a "System of Trust" designed to deliver provable, defensible AI analysis.

My Approach: simplicity, graphs, and rigorous thought

The longer I spend working on technical systems, the more I appreciate the perspective gained from navigating trade-offs. My favourite analogy for software development is gardening. It requires patience, the right tools, and the understanding that reflection is as important as action. If a garden is not maintained, it becomes wild and loses its function.

Over the years, I’ve developed a strong preference for certain tools and philosophies that help manage this complexity:

The power of the graph

Almost every complex data problem I’ve worked on - from fraud detection at the ATO to risk management platforms - has had an aspect of Graph. Systems that can navigate arbitrary relationships instantly are fundamentally more capable of modeling the real world than traditional relational databases. This is why technologies like Datomic, XTDB, and the concept of the Knowledge Graph are central to my work.

Functional thinking (Clojure)

About a decade ago, I encountered the work of Rich Hickey and the Clojure programming language. It changed the way I think about programming. Clojure’s emphasis on immutability, simplicity (making things uncomplicated, rather than just "easy"), and functional dataflow provides a powerful way to build robust, expressive systems. I value this approach because, as I've often reflected, integrating complex components - like AI / LLMs - into systems that demand reliability requires stepping back from the keyboard.

This is not a problem you solve by frantically typing; it requires rigorous contemplation.

Building trust

We are entering an era where AI capabilities are exploding, but our ability to trust those systems is lagging. My current focus with AXONLORE is building systems where every decision is recorded in an immutable ledger, creating a glass box rather than a black box.

The reality of the solo founder

Being a solo technical founder is hard.

Operating in Australia, particularly in Canberra, brings specific constraints: we are geographically isolated from major capital markets. You cannot rely on the "coffee shop density" of traditional tech hubs for serendipitous encounters.

To survive, solo founders don't compete on breadth; we compete on vertical depth. We build "wedges" - highly specific technical solutions that solve acute problems.

The narrative of the solo founder is often reduced to a caricature of a recluse coding in isolation. But successful solo operators are rarely recluses. We have to be architects of trust, leveraging content and community to bridge the gap between a single-person operation and enterprise-scale requirements.

This site is part of that bridge. It’s where I document the build, share the insights, and hopefully, connect with others on a similar path.

What to Expect Here

I write about what I’m working on and what I’m thinking about. This tends to fall into a few categories:

  • Software and Data Architecture: Deep dives into system design, integrating AI / LLMs, knowledge graphs, functional programming, and the tools I use (like Clojure and Datomic). I'm attempting rigorous, technical analysis as I learn/go.
  • AI and Trust: Reflections on the future of AI, the necessity of trustworthy systems, and how we build technology that is accountable and verifiable.
  • The "Canberra Context": As a former public servant, I sometimes analyze and critique the APS's digital transformation efforts, data strategies, and procurement outcomes. I am a strong advocate for open data and transparency (as seen in projects like AwardedTenders.AU and my GovHack-winning ParliPulse).
  • The Founder’s Journey: Honest reflections on bootstrapping, strategy, and the mechanics of building a technical business from the ground up in Australia.

I aim for writing that is analytical and thorough. I aim to provide substance over hype, and I hope my writing is useful to you.

Thanks for reading.