Builder. Operator. Systems thinker.
I've spent 20+ years building companies and systems that scaled. Not "scaled" in the pitch-deck sense — scaled in the "production traffic doubled overnight and nothing caught fire" sense.
As Co-Founder and CTO of Sixpack Shortcuts in Austin, TX, I built the custom technology that powered the business — growing it to over $24M a year. From a content platform to media buying systems that scaled to ~$1M/month in spend, a phone sales department that hit ~$1M in its first month, and a YouTube channel that grew to ~3M subscribers. It was chaotic, fast, and deeply educational.
Today I run Scaled By Design, where I help founders and operators scale the revenue-critical systems their businesses depend on. That means payments infrastructure, DTC ecom platforms, data reconciliation, and production AI — the boring, essential stuff that stalls when it's built on vibes instead of systems.
I build across modern stacks — Node.js, React, Next.js, Laravel, and the AWS ecosystem — but the stack is never the point. The point is whether your system tells the truth and keeps working when you're not watching.
Henry Fuentes
Founder, Scaled By Design
Austin, TX
How I think about systems.
"Dashboards must match reality."
If the numbers on screen don't match the bank account, you don't have a dashboard — you have a decoration.
"Reconciliation isn't optional."
Every system drifts. The question isn't whether your data disagrees — it's whether you catch it before it costs you.
"AI is code + data + workflows."
Not a chatbot bolted onto a landing page. AI in production means guardrails, cost controls, monitoring, and fallback paths.
"Ship safely, then scale."
Velocity without stability is just controlled demolition. Ship what works, harden it, then open the throttle.
What it's like to work with me.
Direct. I'll tell you what needs to scale and what it'll take to get there. No sugar-coating, no scope creep dressed up as strategy.
Accountable. I own the outcome, not just the deliverable. If the system I built doesn't work in production, that's on me.
Calm under pressure. Revenue systems hit walls at inconvenient times. I've been through enough scaling challenges to know that panic ships bugs, not solutions.