Thoughts & Insights
Exploring leadership, technology, and personal growth
Welcome to My Digital Home
I'm Derek Neighbors, a technology leader, mentor, and community builder passionate about creating high-performing teams and innovative products.
Here you'll find my thoughts on software development, leadership, personal growth, and building strong communities. I share insights from my experiences as a serial entrepreneur, software executive, and angel investor.
Whether you're interested in technology trends, team dynamics, or personal development, I hope you'll find something valuable to take away from these posts. Feel free to reach out if you have thoughts to share.

Why Clean Test Output Matters: A Developer's Guide to Noise-Free Testing
Clean test output isn't just about aesthetics, it's about developer productivity, debugging efficiency, and maintaining code quality. When your test suite runs quietly and only speaks up when something's wrong, you can focus on what matters: building great software.
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Stop Chasing Balance. Start Chasing the Edge.
Everyone wants greatness until they realize what it demands. The edge isn't found in comfort, it's in the obsession, discipline, and relentless focus that transforms potential into reality.
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The Return Is the Resistance
It's not about the run or the miles. It's about returning to the place where your resolve gets sharpened, your personal forge where growth happens through resistance.
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Intent-Aware, or Nowhere: Building for Cognition in the Age of AI
Everyone's racing to build Model Context Protocols, but they're solving the wrong problem. You're not building for operators—you're building for agents that interpret, decide, and act.
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Broken Windows Don't Fix Themselves. Neither Do Broken Coders.
You're in the file. You see the broken code. If you walk past it without fixing it, you're not just part of the problem, you are the problem.
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