gonzalaga.com

I build products when the path isn't obvious.

Product leader and builder working across software and physical systems - focused on turning ambiguous ideas into real, testable things.

First principles Prototyping as thinking Constraint-led decisions Systems taste
Context

The work I'm drawn to

Most of my work lives in the uncomfortable middle: early products, incomplete data, and real-world constraints. I'm most useful when the question isn't "how do we optimize this?" but "what should exist here at all?"

How I think

A 30-second read

Start with the real problem

I begin by identifying who feels the pain, what constraint is truly binding, and what must be true for this to be worth building. Speed matters - after direction is earned.

Reason from constraints, not templates

Frameworks can help. They become harmful when they replace thinking. Every system - technical, organizational, physical - has its own shape.

Use prototypes to think

Prototypes clarify questions, expose assumptions, and force trade-offs into the open. Sometimes they ship; often they simply reduce uncertainty.

Stay close to the system

I stay close enough to code, hardware, manufacturing, or incentives to ask better questions and spot false trade-offs. Distance creates false confidence.

Reduce uncertainty, then commit

I ask: "What's the smallest thing we can build that meaningfully reduces uncertainty?" Then I prefer commitment - clear ownership and accountability.

Selected work

A few projects (curated)

Not a complete list. A small set that shows the kinds of problems I like: ambiguous inputs, hard constraints, and systems that need to hold up in reality.

Osmose

Head protection R&D across materials, sensors, and safety constraints

Physical systems
Building toward safer outcomes in messy real-world environments - where comfort, usability, and constraints matter as much as the lab.

Fyrfly Player

Kid-safe offline music playback for summer camps

Product craft
Shipping a constrained experience that camp directors can trust - by controlling the surface area and making trade-offs explicit.

Implicitus

Distance-field-first geometry system for robust computational design

Systems design
Treating geometry as computation instead of static mesh artifact to improve continuity, composability, and structural integrity.

Hexactine

Parametric glass-sponge structure visualizer

Systems design
Exploring biological structural logic through fast, interpretable parametric variation across lattice connectivity, tapering, and multi-scale form.
Now

What I'm exploring

Safety & physical design

Building a path from prototype to real-world testing, with honest constraints around manufacturing and compliance.

Systems that touch reality

Interested in products where the interface is the world: sensors, incentives, reliability, and human behavior.

Taste & decision-making

Continuing to refine how teams make good decisions under uncertainty - without hiding behind process.

Contact

Reach out

If you're working on something new, messy, or hard to define - and want a thoughtful partner in shaping it - I'm happy to talk.