OBSIDIAN HERON

Still waters. Swift execution.

The Studio

A venture studio, operator-led.

Obsidian Heron, LLC is a privately held venture studio. We design, build, and operate software companies — web platforms, mobile applications, and the infrastructure that connects them.

We work in small, senior teams on long time horizons. We build products that earn their keep, and we invest our own time and capital before anyone else's.

Each venture operates under its own brand. Obsidian Heron is the shared foundation beneath them.

How we work

Three disciplines, one studio.

Obsidian Heron operates as a single team across three disciplines. We draw from startup founders, Fortune 500 operators, and active investors — the kind of practitioners who have shipped, scaled, and funded real companies. Each venture we build benefits from all three at once.

01

Technology

Senior engineering and product leadership. We build consumer and enterprise software, iOS and Android applications, and the backend infrastructure that keeps them durable. Our operators have led platforms that serve millions and startups that got to market in months.

02

Marketing & Growth

Brand, positioning, performance marketing, and category design. Our team has launched consumer and B2B products, scaled acquisition across paid, organic, and partnership channels, and built go-to-market programs that compound without burning capital.

03

Capital

We invest our own capital into the companies we build and selectively back founders outside the studio. Our investor-operators know what early traction looks like, what it costs, and how to deploy capital patiently enough to let real businesses emerge.

Portfolio

What we're building.

Skilled.Ph

Live

A remote hiring platform connecting US-based businesses with vetted Filipino professionals for direct employment — no placement fees, aligned to US business hours.

skilled.ph →

Cairn

Private alpha

Bookkeeping and tax automation for US service businesses under 25 people. Replaces the shoebox-and-CPA cycle with an AI-driven books-first workflow.

Coming soon

Paleglass

In development

A private iOS journaling and reflection app with an on-device model. No streaks, no social, no cloud AI — introspection as the product.

Coming soon

Fieldstone

In research

A US-to-Latin-America direct-hiring platform for software engineering contractors. A structural sibling to Skilled.Ph in a different geography.

Coming soon

Rivet

Prototype

Developer tooling for distributed engineering teams built around async code review. A small, opinionated product for teams that want review to feel like writing, not meetings.

Coming soon

Harborline

Concept

An operator-led platform for emerging fund managers: deal flow, syndicate rails, and a private operator community. Built around the idea that the best capital is patient and informed.

Coming soon

Submit an idea

Have something worth building?

If you're a founder, operator, or domain expert with a product idea that could fit the studio, we'd like to hear it. We read every submission. Strong fits get a conversation.

Contact

Get in touch.

For partnership, press, or general inquiries, send us a note. We read everything.