Rainsystems · Editorial operations
The newsroom · est. May 2024

Between commits.

A studio notebook. Essays on editorial systems, engineering field notes, the occasional rant about CSS. Published when there's something worth writing, not on a schedule.

Real life stories · May 7, 2025 · Lead story

Working With Nonprofits and News Organizations

A significant portion of our work has been with nonprofits and independent news outlets. That wasn't a deliberate strategy at first. It happened, and then it kept happening.

By Akel Aguad·May 7, 2025·1 min read
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A significant portion of our work has been with nonprofits and independent news outlets. That wasn't a deliberate strategy at first. It happened, and then it kept happening.

From the lead story
Real life stories · Apr 27

Documented WordPress website development story

Back in 2020, when the world was upside down, I met Documented NY, a small nonprofit news outlet in New York telling the stories of immigrant communities. Their WordPress site was breaking. We fixed it, then built something that would last.

By Akel Aguad·1 min
About Us · Apr 9

How Rainmakers Started

In 2014, I was working in tech and not particularly proud of what I was building. I wanted to work on projects that mattered to the people involved. That's how Rainmakers started.

By Akel Aguad·1 min
About Us · Apr 9

What Rainsystems Is For

We work with people building things. What they have in common: they know what they're trying to do, they have real constraints, and they want someone who will tell them the truth.

By Akel Aguad·1 min
How we do Business · Apr 8

How Our Projects Actually Run

A project without clear scope is expensive guessing. Before we build anything, we define what's included and what isn't. Not loosely. Specifically.

By Akel Aguad·April 8, 2025·1 min
How we do Business · Apr 8

The Questions Before the Code

Most bad web projects fail in the briefing phase, not the development phase. We spend time at the start asking questions that feel obvious but usually aren't.

By Akel Aguad·April 8, 2025·1 min
How we do Business · Apr 8

What We Tell Clients Who Don't Need Us Yet

We've told people to wait. To not launch yet. To not hire us for this particular problem. That advice is free. We'd rather give it than take on a project we know isn't going to go well.

By Akel Aguad·April 8, 2025·1 min