tanobuild.com

Architecture trained me to listen before I design. That habit doesn't change.

I spent fifteen years in architecture, the last five as a partner, closing enterprise deals in hospitality and commercial development. The last couple of months I've been building AI systems from scratch: a 13-container autonomous trading platform, an AI-powered business intelligence suite, tools running on self-hosted infrastructure. The craft is the point.

See the work ↓Let's talk →
Things I've built

AI tools, live and in use.

Not prototypes. Working systems, built with the same patience and intention you'd bring to anything meant to last.

LIVE

Enterprise Partner Intelligence Dashboard

Live AI intelligence dashboard tracking NVIDIA, Google, and Anthropic developments contextualized to the energy and utilities sector.

Next.jsClaude APIVercel

SATS

Social Arbitrage Trading System. 13-container autonomous paper trading system with an 8-gate signal pipeline processing social, macro, and technical signals.

PostgreSQLRedisDockerAlpaca APIPolygon.ioClaude API

Appliance Uprising

A browser-based hex-grid strategy game built with Phaser.js, React, and TypeScript. Six appliance characters, turn-based combat, Kickstarter commercial strategy.

Phaser.jsReactTypeScriptVercel
LIVE

Career Engine

Paste a job posting, get a tailored resume, cover letter, role fit analysis, salary brief, and interview talking points. Powered by Claude.

Next.jsClaude APIdocxDocker
LIVE

Wealth Engine

Financial planning and wealth projection tool. Models multiple income scenarios with interactive controls.

Next.jsReactVercel
LIVE

TanoBox

A self-hosted business intelligence platform shipping pre-configured on a mini PC. One-time purchase replaces five SaaS subscriptions.

DockerGMKtec NucBoxUbuntu Server
Fifteen years of this

Architecture work.

Fifteen years in the field, five as a partner at Clayton Korte. Clients in hospitality and commercial development. Austin, TX.

Pullman Market
Partner
2024
Pullman Market
Adaptive Reuse · Culinary Market
San Antonio, TX

A 40,000 sq ft culinary market inside the historic Samuels Glass building at Pearl — the largest of its kind in the Southwest. Original clay tile, polished concrete, and the building's patina provide contrast to new elements. The former loading dock became a light-filled courtyard connecting to Pearl's pedestrian life.

View at Clayton Korte →
Stable Hall
Partner
2024
Stable Hall
Adaptive Reuse · Entertainment Venue
San Antonio, TX

One of San Antonio's oldest buildings — an 1890s Pearl brewery stable — reimagined as a live music venue. A radially laid original wood ceiling anchors the space. Custom hay loft balconies serve intimate shows while the open ground floor holds standing-room crowds.

AIA San Antonio Place Award
View at Clayton Korte →
Eberly
Project Manager
2017
Eberly
Adaptive Reuse · Hospitality
Austin, TX

A former print shop transformed into three distinct environments — the restored Cedar Tavern, the mod Café, and the book-filled Study. The salvaged bar from Greenwich Village's Cedar Tavern anchors the space, marrying lofty and humble sources within a raw context of concrete and glass.

AIA Austin Design Award
View at Clayton Korte →
Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery
Project Manager
2015
Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery
Adaptive Reuse · Hospitality
San Antonio, TX

An 1890s Pearl brewhouse brought back to life as if it never shut down. Historic brewing equipment — kettle tops, a copper mash tun, a 60-foot grain silo turned private dining room — repurposed as the bones of the space. Gritty magnificence restored, not erased.

AIA San Antonio Merit Award
View at Clayton Korte →
The Bottling Department Food Hall
Project Manager
2015
The Bottling Department Food Hall
Adaptive Reuse · Food Hall
San Antonio, TX

Adaptive reuse of historic Pearl buildings into one of San Antonio's landmark food hall destinations. Industrial bones preserved, new program layered in — setting the template for the Pearl district's ongoing transformation into a culinary destination.

Texas Masonry Council Golden Trowel AwardAIA San Antonio Citation Award
View at Clayton Korte →
Jeffrey's
Project Designer
2013
Jeffrey's
Renovation · Hospitality
Austin, TX

A revival of one of Austin's most iconic fine dining institutions, reinterpreted for a new generation without losing what made it essential. The renovation balanced reverence for the original with the demands of a contemporary kitchen and dining experience.

View at Clayton Korte →
Savor
Project Architect
2016
Savor
Hospitality
San Antonio, TX

A hospitality project at the Historic Pearl recognized for its design excellence. Published in G&G Magazine and honored with a San Antonio Magazine Home & Design Award in the Restaurant/Bar category.

San Antonio Magazine Home & Design Award
View at Clayton Korte →
Clark's Oyster Bar
Project Designer
2013
Clark's Oyster Bar
Renovation · Hospitality
Austin, TX

A remodel of a 1,400 sq ft former restaurant — and auto repair shop before that — worked from the inside out. The material palette of stained wood, polished stone, and patterned tile carries subtle nautical cues throughout. A 300-gallon aquarium anchors the center of the room, separating the lively bar from quieter table seating. Cheerful yellow and white awnings over the wood deck outside create an air of intimacy on the sidewalk.

View at Clayton Korte →
Josephine House
Project Designer
2013
Josephine House
Renovation · Hospitality
Austin, TX

A 900 sq ft renovation that transformed a private events annex of Jeffrey's into a standalone breakfast, lunch and dinner destination in Clarksville. Book-matched marble bar and buffet counter pair with repurposed original shiplap walls and a reclaimed shiplap ceiling — rustic and elegant at once. Outside, board-formed retaining walls, grass seating terraces, and native plantings frame a courtyard under a live oak canopy strung with lights.

View at Clayton Korte →

Full portfolio at claytonkorte.com

About
Fifteen years learning what clients need before they know they need it. Good craft works that way.

Architecture teaches you that. So does running a trading system through four production bugs at 2am. The work here covers both worlds.

Fifteen years in architecture, five of them as a partner at Clayton Korte. Clients in hospitality and commercial development, mostly. Long deals, multiple stakeholders, the kind of work where trust is the actual product.

The last couple of months have been about building the translation layer between what AI can actually do and what enterprise teams believe about it. That gap is the opportunity. Closing it is a relationship problem, and that is precisely what fifteen years in architecture trains you for.

Every system here was built to last and built to work. The name is a reminder of that.

What I'm looking for

The right problem.

Most AI companies have the technology figured out. The harder problem is the gap between what the system can actually do and what an enterprise buyer believes about it. Closing that gap is a relationship problem. It requires someone who can sit across from a skeptical VP and make the abstract concrete, and then go back to the team and translate what the buyer actually needs into something buildable.

That is what fifteen years in architecture trained me to do. And it is what I have been doing on my own: building production systems from scratch, running them, debugging them at 2am, and learning what it actually takes to ship AI that works in the real world.

I am looking for a GTM Strategy, AI Strategy, or Founding PM role at a sub-100-person AI company where the gap between capability and adoption is the opportunity. If you are building something real and need someone who can own both sides of that equation, I would like to talk.

Contact

Let's talk.

sjmanning@gmail.com