THE BOUNDEV JOURNAL
The engineering
archive.
Earlier writing on software, hiring, and building AI. Articles retain their original URLs and publication dates; some historical offers and references are outdated.
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LLM Cost Optimization: How We Cut a $48K/Month Bill to $19K
A step-by-step account of the exact decisions, tools, and tradeoffs that slashed a SaaS company's LLM spend by 60% — without touching product quality.
How to Build an MCP Server in 2026 (with Code)
Build a working MCP server in Python — from protocol basics to running code. Step-by-step tutorial covering tools, resources, prompts, testing, and deployment with real c
The 5 Eval Mistakes That Will Sink Your RAG System
Most RAG systems fail because of flawed evaluation, not broken models. Here are the 5 most common RAG eval mistakes and how to fix them before they cost you a production
Case Study #2: How [Customer] Replaced 3 Failed Toptal Matches in 2 Weeks
Three Toptal matches. Three failures. Zero AI features shipped. See how one US SaaS founder replaced all 3 failed matches and shipped to production in 14 days with Bounde
Production RAG in 2026: 7 Architecture Decisions That Matter
From chunking to observability: the complete production RAG guide for 2026. Covers hybrid retrieval, semantic caching, evaluation, and cost architecture that actually sca
Turing vs Boundev vs In-House: A Comparison for Series A SaaS
Turing, in-house, or subscription? Real costs, timelines, and tradeoffs for Series A SaaS teams shipping AI features in 2026. Make the right call.
The 7 Hidden Costs of Hiring AI Talent on Freelance Platforms
Hiring an AI freelancer on Upwork or Toptal costs far more than the quoted rate. Here are 7 hidden costs every US SaaS founder needs to budget for.
Toptal for AI Engineering: An Honest Review After 12 Hires
We ran 12 AI engineering hires through Toptal. Here's the real cost, vetting gaps, and when it works — for LLM and RAG roles specifically.
Case Study #1: How [Customer] Shipped Production RAG in 6 Days
How Boundev shipped a production RAG system in 6 days — real architecture, code, and metrics. From 14-second latency to 1.4s p95. Full case study.
Build vs Buy vs Subscribe: A Decision Framework for AI Features in 2026
Build vs buy AI in 2026? This decision framework covers costs, timelines, and the subscribe model most founders miss. Make the right call in 30 days.
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