The Kobin Blog

For founders
who build.

Essays, guides, and honest writing about running an agency without losing your mind. No fluff.

All posts

context
switchingDATA ESSAY
The real cost of switching between Slack, Notion and Linear

Research shows 1.2 months of productivity lost per year to tool switching. Here's how we calculated that number and what it means for your team.

build in
publicBUILD LOG
How we built a real-time inbox that replaces Slack in 3 weeks

The technical decisions, UX mistakes, and hard lessons from building Kobin's inbox from scratch. Supabase Realtime, optimistic updates, and why reactions are harder than you think.

client
portalFEATURE GUIDE
How agencies are managing clients without a separate portal tool

Three agency owners share how they replaced Notion client spaces, Basecamp, and custom-built portals with a single client view. Real workflows, real numbers.

kobin
v1LAUNCH STORY
I built Kobin to replace my own agency tool stack. Here's what happened.

12 months. 5 failed prototypes. 1 name change. And a product that finally feels like what I always wanted to use. The honest story behind building Kobin.

AI +
tasksAI LAYER
Why we're building the AI layer after the foundation, not before it

Every productivity tool is rushing to ship AI. We're doing it differently — building the data model first so the AI actually has something to work with.

Slack vs
KobinCOMPARISON
Slack vs Kobin: what a 5-person agency actually needs in 2026

A direct, honest comparison. Where Slack wins, where Kobin wins, and why we built what we did. No sales pitch — just the reality of both tools.

6
The problem
Essays on tool overload, context switching, and agency inefficiency
4
Build in public
Technical decisions, product mistakes, and honest build logs from Kobin HQ
5
Guides
Practical walkthroughs for running a leaner, more focused agency
3
Stories
Founder journeys and real stories from agencies using Kobin