Contents
- The Stack Overflow Developer Survey consistently shows that the median developer works on 1-3 projects simultaneously, with workload stress increasing sharply beyond that threshold.
- The Compounding Execution Model (CEM) eliminates architectural redundancy through a shared foundation.
- The portfolio maintained a 12.1% product defect rate -- half to one-fifth of the industry norm (20-50%) -- while the operator managed all 10 systems.
Yes. One operator -- Michael George Keating -- built, deployed, and maintains 10 production systems spanning 7 verticals and 2 geographies with 596,903 lines of code, operating at ~7% external dependency and $825/month total cost as of January 2026.
What the Industry Data Says
The Stack Overflow Developer Survey consistently shows that the median developer works on 1-3 projects simultaneously, with workload stress increasing sharply beyond that threshold. However, those benchmarks assume each project is built from independent codebases requiring separate infrastructure decisions, unique deployment configurations, and isolated maintenance cycles. The constraint is not human capacity -- it is architectural redundancy.
How 10 Systems Become Manageable
The Compounding Execution Model (CEM) eliminates architectural redundancy through a shared foundation. All 10 systems inherit the same authentication patterns, database schemas, admin interfaces, API structures, and deployment pipelines. Maintaining 10 systems built on a common foundation is not 10x the work of maintaining one system. It is closer to 1.3x.
The portfolio inventory at steady state:
| System | LOC | Vertical | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| PRJ-01 | 194,954 | Platform / CDP | Pre-revenue |
| PRJ-11 | 127,832 | Financial Services | Pre-revenue |
| PRJ-06 | 61,359 | Seasonal SaaS | Pre-revenue |
| PRJ-09 | 41,925 | Auto Insurance | Pre-revenue |
| PRJ-07 | 39,750 | Insurance (US) | Pre-revenue |
| PRJ-10 | 39,747 | Annuities | Pre-revenue |
| PRJ-08 | 39,288 | Life Insurance | Pre-revenue |
| PRJ-04 | 29,193 | Consumer Reports | Pre-revenue |
| PRJ-05 | 16,993 | Insurance (South Africa) | Revenue |
| PRJ-03 | 5,862 | Legal (HOA) | Pre-revenue |
The Progression That Made It Possible
This was not day-one capability. The operator's dependency on external support shifted measurably over the 116-day build period:
- October 2025: Operator 30% / External 70%
- November 2025: Operator 44% / External 48%
- December 2025: Operator 73% / External 25%
- January 2026: Operator 93% / External 7%
By January, the operator executed 93% of all work independently. Contractor spend dropped from $9,046/month at peak to $0. The 4.6x velocity increase meant one person's output matched what previously required a small team.
Quality Did Not Degrade
The portfolio maintained a 12.1% product defect rate -- half to one-fifth of the industry norm (20-50%) -- while the operator managed all 10 systems. The 3.7% rework rate on the scaffold cluster (4 insurance products built from a shared template) demonstrates that template-driven maintenance scales without quality loss.
For decision-makers: a solo operator maintaining 10 production systems is viable when the architecture eliminates redundant maintenance work. The prerequisite is a compounding foundation, not superhuman effort.
Related: [FAQ #71 — Time to Build Production System With AI]
References
- Stack Overflow (2025). "Developer Survey." Developer workload and project management data.
- Keating, M.G. (2026). "Case Study: The Full Portfolio." Stealth Labz. Read case study