The only newsletter in the world tailor-made for engineers of money software.
Every day, engineers, leaders and founders at fintech companies have to make decisions about their software systems for which they don’t really know the answer.
What kind of tech stack should I use?
How can I keep the finance team and the accountants happy?
Is this code that I’m about to push going to lose me money?
And the most important of all: is making a mistake now going to bite me down the line?
However, when they go online to find a solution, most content they find is created to help people pass job interviews. It’s either too generic (“clean code!”, “rewrite it in Rust!”), or too tactical (tips without the proper context). The Payments Engineer Playbook bridges that gap.
What you’ll get
Every week I look at some critical aspect of money software. And I extract a tactic, a useful insight, or a design guideline that help you:
Navigate scalability issues with actionable recommendations, decision-making frameworks and good tricks.
Make software design decisions specific to the high stakes of moving money around.
Assess the impact of new technology waves and separate the hype from the insight.
Who is this for
You’re an engineer, a CTO or a founder at a fintech company who:
Builds software that moves money around (ledgers, payment systems, billing, wallets, …).
Makes design decisions, and is accountable for them.
Values deep dives over generic advice.
Wants to understand the why, and isn’t satisfied with the hype.
What you’ll get
Join thousands of engineers from companies such as Stripe, Modern Treasury and Coinbase. Here’s what to expect:
1 email per week, every Wednesday. They are full of valuable lessons about building money software, and software engineering in general.
Unsubscribe anytime. One click on the appropriate button at the end of every email, and you’re done, no questions asked.
A welcome email that will blow your mind.
Who am I
My name is Alvaro Duran. I’ve been building software that moves money around both at MegaCorp and at tiny.co.
Over the years, I’ve been exposed to a wide variety of design patterns tailored to the high stakes and the immense pressure of systems responsible for keeping track, storing, and reporting on the finances of organizations and users.
I’ve seen what works, but most importantly, I’ve seen what doesn’t.
Most of the lessons and takeaways from building money software stay inside the organizations that produce them. Engineers come and go, and quickly jump to another industry and forget those lessons. The truth never gets out.
I started The Payments Engineer Playbook because building money software is deceptively hard. The best engineers combine technical expertise with a deep understanding of accounting, finance, and investing.
But that knowledge is scattered. I collect it and clarify it for you.
Free or Paid?
Free subscribers get:
One full article per month
Access to the free archive
Access to the Glossary of Money Software
Paid subscribers get:
One full article per week
Community chat participation
Access to the full archive
Most subscribers expense this as professional development and get it for free.
Ready to elevate your game?
Questions? Reply to any email or reach out at alvaro@alvaroduran.com
