About Mike Hostetler
I am a software builder and engineering leader. For more than three decades, I have turned new technology into useful products, companies, and teams.
I build systems, teams, and companies
I wrote my first programs in QBasic when I was a kid. I have been building software since then. The tools have changed, but the work that interests me has stayed consistent: learn a new platform, find where it can be useful, and build the systems and teams that can make it real.
In the early web era, I contributed to the jQuery Core team and helped form the jQuery Foundation. I also co-authored O'Reilly's jQuery Cookbook. In 2009, I co-founded appendTo with other jQuery contributors. We built it without outside funding, grew it to more than 30 people, and worked with organizations such as Microsoft, Time.com, and E*Trade.
That experience set a pattern for my career. I move between code, product, operations, and leadership because real systems need all four.
Operating and leading at scale
At Cars.com, I helped lead an engineering organization of more than 120 people on a large consumer platform. The work included a full technology re-platform, a move to remote work during COVID, and changes that reduced annual vendor costs by $3 million.
I later served as COO of Versatus, a decentralized cloud startup. I led strategy, operations, and infrastructure while working in a market where the technology and business model changed quickly.
Today, my work includes engineering leadership and open-source software for AI agents. I created Jido, an agent framework built on Elixir and the BEAM. I also work on tools that make language models and agent systems easier to use in production.
Across these roles, I have learned how to translate between technical work and business goals. I can work in the code, shape a product, build an operating plan, or help a team find a better way to work.
The thread through my work
I am often drawn to a platform before its common use is clear. That was true for the web, open source, blockchain, Elixir, and now AI agents. I do not pursue new technology only because it is new. I want to know what becomes possible when it has strong engineering, clear ownership, and a useful purpose.
I also believe that the quality of a system depends on the quality of the team behind it. Leadership is not separate from the technical work. Context, trust, direct feedback, and clear ownership are part of the architecture.
I have an Executive MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, with a focus on venture capital and acquisition entrepreneurship. I also have a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
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This site is a public record of what I build, learn, and believe.