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Auzi

Journal

Field notes.

On building the operating system businesses run on — the cost of disconnected tools, why ownership beats renting, and what great software actually does for an industry.

Featured — Field notes

You don't have a software problem. You have ten tools that don't talk.

The real cost of the small-business software stack isn't the subscriptions. It's the re-keying, the swivel-chair operations, and the data you don't actually own.

Ike Castillo·May 28, 2026·3 min read

Field notes·May 26, 2026

Own your data: the clause to find before you sign any software contract

Switching practice-management software can cost $15,000–$45,000 — much of it just to get your own records back. Here's the contract language that decides whether you own your data or rent it.

Read · 3 min read

Teardowns·May 22, 2026

Buy, build, or own: the third option nobody sells small businesses

Off-the-shelf software rents you a generic fit. A custom agency build abandons you after launch. There's a third option — owned software, fitted to you and kept alive — and almost nobody offers it.

Read · 3 min read

Playbook·May 18, 2026

What eye-care practice software should actually do in 2026

A vendor-neutral checklist for optometry and eye-care software: what one connected system should handle from booking to exam to optical to billing — and where the incumbents leave you stitching tools together.

Read · 3 min read

Stop renting your operations

Ready to own the system your business runs on?

Read enough. Let's talk about what we'd build for you — and how you'd own it.

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