Hey, I’m John

I didn’t come to this trade from a business plan. I started at nineteen, on a ladder, cutting shims and getting a unit plumb, level and square before anyone let me near a customer.

Since then I’ve worked nearly every seat an impact window and door business has. Along the way I kept running into the same thing: the software this trade runs on was built by people who never worked in it. So I started building my own.

First came WindowCalc, a full quoting platform I built alone on nights and weekends. I gave it away. Then Focus Bridge. Gave that away too. The dealer calculators and the manufacturer spec hubs went out free the same way.

Three apps wouldn’t stay small: Aperture, Eyewall and Quote Converter Pro. They needed a real company, so I spun one off. That’s Retrostack Software. Everything Windows and Doors owns it, and this site is my home base for all of it.

The goal is easy to say and hard to build: the price on the proposal matches what’s at the house, every time. We’re not there yet. We’re close.

I write about what I’m learning in public: AI that actually earns its keep, how the apps get built, the experiments that didn’t work, and the trade itself.

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Career

• PhonesAnswering the phones
• Installer
• Lead Installer
• Sales
• Sales Team LeaderTeam of 8 reps
• Sales Manager4 reps
• Marketing Director
• IT
• Systems & CRM setupFront-end systems and CRMs for window and door companies

The companies

• EWDEverything Windows and Doors. Me, my writing and my side projects. You’re here.
• RSRetrostack Software. The software spinoff, owned by EWD. It also runs the free dealer tools.
• APPSAperture, Eyewall, Quote Converter Pro. Retrostack products, each with its own site.