Why I built POTE™ · SurgTechniques

I grew up surrounded by doctors and surgeons. Medicine has always been part of my life, even though I ended up following a very different path.

For over 20 years, I’ve worked in technology, building and deploying software for all kinds of people and companies. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the people who actually use the software rarely get what they really need.

There’s always a reason. Not enough budget. Not enough time. Too complicated. Not technically possible. I’ve heard them all. And I’ve watched too many good ideas quietly disappear because someone, somewhere, decided they weren’t worth the trouble.

But there’s another, much more personal reason why POTE™ exists.

My sister went through not one, but two surgical residencies. I’ve seen up close what those years demand: the endless hours, the pressure, the sacrifices, the constant learning, and the extraordinary dedication it takes to become a fully qualified specialist.

I have enormous respect for that journey. And while I’ll never pretend to know what it’s like to be a surgical resident, I’ve seen enough to understand that when you’re already giving so much of yourself to learning one of the most demanding professions in the world, the last thing you need is technology making your life harder.

POTE™ started with two simple questions:

What if we could make surgical residents’ lives just a little bit easier?

And what if there were no limits to what the tools we build for them could do?

What if, instead of expecting residents to adapt to software, we built software that adapted to them? What if we stopped telling them what was possible and started asking what they actually needed, even if it sounded impossible at first?

POTE™ is a personal project. Nobody hired me to build it and, in fact, I have my day job. I’ve spent months working on it because I genuinely enjoy it, but also because I believe that making even a small difference in a surgical resident’s day is worth the effort.

Every conversation with a resident who uses POTE™ gives me another reason to keep going.

The most rewarding part has been watching their expectations change. At first, they ask for small things. Sensible things. But once they see their ideas come to life, something shifts. They realize they don’t have to limit themselves to what’s already available. They start asking for things they once thought were too difficult, too ambitious, or simply impossible.

And I love that.

I’ve come to believe that people often stop asking for what they really want because they’ve grown so used to hearing “no.” Surgical residents are no exception.

I want POTE™ to be a place where residents don’t have to hold back. Where imagination comes first, and limitations are problems to solve, not reasons to give up.

I can’t promise every idea will work. But I can promise I’ll take it seriously, think it through, and do my best to find a way.

Surgical residents already have enough on their plates. Long shifts, demanding training, enormous responsibility, and years of hard work ahead of them. If I can use what I’ve learned over the past 20 years to take even a little friction out of that journey, I think that’s time well spent.

That’s why I built POTE™. And that’s what keeps me building it.