Who is Behind Bratags?

This week, we’ve covered a lot: building a brand through writing versus building, solving trust problems, shaping a vision, creating a safe marketplace, and wrestling with transparency versus mystery. But behind all of that, there’s just one person pulling the strings. Me.

Solo Founder, Solo Grit

I’m good at isolation—that’s the easy part. I’ve always been a homebody, quite the introvert, and find it exhausting when I extend myself socially. The perfect modern-day parallel would-be electric cars versus their gas-powered alternatives: range anxiety, slower recharge, more careful attention required. Where isolation kills others, I actually welcome it. I often joke with those close to me that I’d welcome the pandemic lockdowns back with open arms—it was quiet, peaceful, easier to focus.

No, the challenge for me hasn’t been solitude—it’s continuing to believe in something and getting others to care. Validation comes in all forms, large and small. Every time a notification pops up for a new free member signing up for one of my projects, it feels great. Even better when validation comes in the form of someone spending money on something I’ve built solo. That’s what keeps me going through self-doubt—or general doubt—which is harder when you’ve wrestled with depression.

It’s tough in a world where everything online feels gatekept by massive corporations and life seems like a constant popularity contest. The older I get, the more the world seems like a schoolyard in a bigger yard. I’ve worked for some of the largest tech companies and done corporate consulting, but I’ve never thrived in the politics, ladders, and BS of it all. I’ve thrived in my corner, building, tinkering, making my own blocks. Bratags is one of those blocks.

Balancing Transparency with Privacy

I’ve thought long and hard about how much of myself to reveal. What feels essential to build trust versus what crosses the line into overexposure? I’ve written about transparency versus mystery in collecting—now you’re seeing it lived in the platform’s creator. I want you to know enough to feel trust, but not so much that privacy is irrelevant. The tension is intentional; it’s a design as much as it’s my truth.

Track Record and Proof

I graduated top of my class (Summa Cum Laude) and started at Sun Microsystems straight out of college in 1999, helping build E10k servers—yes, I’m also an old bra. Life led me to start my own solo-founder hosting company, One Zero Hosting, Inc. in 2004. It ran for ten years before being swallowed by the corporate beast—Amazon and AWS. I recall late nights in the data center, the loud hum of thousands of “only fans” (pre‑OnlyFans) surrounding me, struggling with network engineering problems, wanting to break down, but having no one to turn to. I had to find my own way out of the dark—and I did.

Most congenial in kindergarten, best smile in high school—those little accolades might sound trivial, but they reveal something essential about who I am at my core. I’ve been on the losing end plenty of times, in life and in business, often because I didn’t know when to fight (or even how to) or when to walk away (again, clueless about the timing). Dealing with bullies, cheats, liars, and just plain assholes has made me wary; my default level of trust and respect for people isn’t exactly high. But it’s also clarified something crucial: it has shown me exactly what I never want to become.

Being introverted in a world that rewards popularity, while trying to shine a light on your work, is no easy feat. Cutting corners, scamming, or hurting others would be a fast way to ruin it all. Luckily, I haven’t gone down that path—I’ve kept my integrity, even when it would have been easier not to. And that, more than anything, defines the kind of founder I strive to be.

Since then, I’ve consulted, helped startups build data center footprints, and done contract sysadmin work. Before “data center” was a phrase in the news, I’d been in them, around them, and leveraging hands-on expertise to help corporations with networks, dark fiber, BGP, and colocation. Most of the time, I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing. Sure, I have a degree in Electronics Engineering, but no one formally taught me any of this. Self-doubt has been a passenger on this journey—one I mostly ignore, taking pleasure in seeing it proven wrong.

I’ve built quietly, learned hard lessons, and Bratags is where it all comes together.

Anecdotes / Founder’s Voice

Late nights reflecting in empty data centers. The hum of servers. The quiet thrill of solving something alone. I carry these moments with me into Bratags—the intimacy, the focus, the desire to create something meaningful without compromise. It’s messy, imperfect, and deeply personal.

Back to the Collector

This is me. But Bratags isn’t about me—it’s about you. The Models. The Collectors. The stories we all share. And as we move into Week Two, the focus shifts from me, the builder, to you, the people giving this platform life.

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