A COMPANY OF ONE

Bill Hudak. Growth exec. AI-native tech stacker. Consumer subscription expert. Operator at large.

I run ecommerce and growth for consumer software brands and, on the side, ship real apps in an afternoon. This is the hub — what I'm building, how I ship it, and how to work together.

FLAGSHIP · COMPANY OF ONE

How I'm shipping real software as one operator.

Company of One is the working guide behind everything on this page — the stack, the costs, and the workflow that lets one person go from an idea in the morning to a live URL by dinner. It reads like Stripe docs meets a strong LinkedIn post, and it's the same operating model I use for every app below.

  • AI-native from the first prompt. Perplexity Computer plans and drafts, I edit and ship. No boilerplate, no ceremony.
  • Boring, durable stack. React + Vite + Supabase + Vercel + GitHub. Cheap to run, easy to hand off, hard to break.
  • Real problems only. Every app started as something I needed, then got shared with the small group who needed the same thing.
  • Public links over static handoffs. Interactive apps are the delivery mechanism for shared decisions. PDFs are for the formal moment.
SHIPPED & SHIPPING

Apps I've built as a company of one.

Each of these solves a real problem I had, then got shared with the small group of people who had the same problem. React + Vite + Supabase + Vercel or a Perplexity-hosted app link, depending on who needs access. Time from idea to deployed URL, in the caption.

THE 10-HOUR ENGAGEMENT

A fixed-scope diagnostic for founders and investors.

I run 10-hour retention, growth, and diligence diagnostics for consumer software and DTC brands — no fee for the first pass, no commercial teaser attached. You get evidence, a prioritized diagnosis, and a real recommendation. Not a pitch deck.

  • Eight-workstream diagnosis — acquisition quality, early behavior, lifecycle, transactional, account & subscription, save motions, data, involuntary churn.
  • Artifacts, not chat. Raw pulls in the project, one durable analysis per swimlane, a hypothesis index with evidence.
  • Independent attribution guardrail. Platform self-attribution doesn't count on its own; findings get corroborated.
  • Evidence can reject the story. Priors get overturned when the data says so — that's the whole point.
WHERE I'LL BE

Come say hi.

A short list of what's on the calendar. If you'll be at any of these, ping me.

  • SEP 17
    SPEAKING
    Ecom North · LA Summit
    City Market Social House · Los Angeles · Thu

    Application-only summit for 6–7-figure+ DTC founders and operators. Retention, CAC/LTV, and the operating frameworks behind scaling in 2026.

    Details ↗
  • SEP 22 –24
    ATTENDING
    RetailClub AI Festival
    Beachside · Huntington Beach · Tue–Thu

    All-outdoor, beachside retail event from the Shoptalk / Groceryshop founders. Peer-to-peer working sessions on retail in an AI-first world.

    Details ↗
  • SEP 23
    DINNER
    Golden Hour Dinner
    Brands-only · Huntington Beach · Wed

    A small dinner for retail and commerce operators — the conversations that don't happen on a conference floor. Hosted by Wildcard, Hue, and Gigit AI.

    Details ↗
  • OCT
    EMCEEING
    Anaheim event · TBA
    Anaheim · October · date to come

    Emceeing a full-day operator event in Anaheim this October. Details land here as soon as they're locked.

    Details soon
BONA FIDES

Twenty years turning consumer businesses into recurring-revenue machines.

I've operated at both ends of the funnel — brand and paid acquisition on one side, retention and lifecycle on the other — and I've been the person the deal memo lands on before either.

MOST RECENTLY
SVP of Growth at RealDefense — a 20-person org across ecommerce, retention, lifecycle, payments, and traffic quality for a portfolio of consumer software brands.
BEFORE THAT
Retention and ecommerce leadership at Dollar Shave Club, joined post-diligence with Nexus Capital.
AND BEFORE THAT
Consumer-business diligence on TPG's acquisition of McAfee, then an operating seat inside the business. Advisor and consultant in between.
EARLY DAYS
Googler #220. Interviewed by Larry Page. Mental problem-solving at a whiteboard, then five years of a small company becoming a big one.
WHAT I'M USUALLY DOING
Retention & LTV diagnostics Ecommerce & subscription growth Lifecycle & CRM (Klaviyo, Braze) Payments & authorization Ops design & intake Consumer diligence AI-assisted rapid prototyping Founder-facing executive briefs Tech guru Industry OG Artist / Scientist
GET IN TOUCH

Best way in: email.

Founder, investor, operator, or just curious — pick the one that fits and send a short note. I read everything.