Why I closed the agency.

I founded Upstack Studio in 2017, then chose to close it. These are the lessons I took into my own businesses.

The agency years.

At Upstack Studio, we built web and mobile software. We worked with business owners for years.

We had to know their customers, choose the features and make the cost worth it.

I learned to look past the feature list. The hard part was rarely the code.

Adrian Ching at dinner with a group — Talking over dinner.

Building Tradelink.

We built the first version of Tradelink’s transport software. It took the place of an earlier no-code product.

It put loads, trips and trailers in one place. We planned for what the business would need next.

With each idea, I ask how it helps the person using it.

See the client stories

Tradelink software screens for managing transport loads, trips and trailers — Tradelink · Built with the Upstack Studio team.

I chose to close the agency.

I could have kept improving the agency. I wanted to own the products and results instead. I wanted fewer, bigger ideas.

Being able to keep going was no reason to stay.

I closed it to focus on products and businesses I own.

I want to see what a small team can do with AI. It handles repeat work. People keep the judgment, relationships and big choices.

The businesses I own today.

Second Team

Second Team gets most of my time. I’m building it for the long term.

We’re testing software for distributors, agencies and contract services. It reads invoices to find customers who stopped buying or haven’t paid. It writes the message. You tap yes.

I share what I learn. The product work stays private.

My other businesses

I own and run other businesses too, in software, media and more.

This site holds my work, writing and videos, with more to come.

The rules I build by.

Know the business problem before you pick a tool.

Tell the truth, even when that means not building it.

Do fewer things with full focus.

Let AI do repeat work. Keep people on judgment and relationships.

The people I learn with.

Adrian Ching and the Trailblazers group jumping on the beach at their Boracay retreat — With Trailblazers at our Boracay retreat.

Adrian Ching at dinner with his EO Trailblazers coach, an EO member and two Accountability Group members — Dinner after our Accountability Group meeting. With my EO Trailblazers coach, an EO member and two other group members.

I advise a few founders.

I do this next to my work at Second Team. I help founders choose where AI and software are worth the money.

How I work with founders

In Real Life · January 2025

A feature on the agency years.

A profile of the agency years: difficult starts, costly mistakes and learning when to say no.

Read about the feature