Software Forged
in the Dark
This is the workshop where I turn AI into tools people can use, and I do it in public. One product is live and more are on the anvil. You're welcome to watch them take shape.
The Work
What's come off the anvil so far.
Growth and operations software for martial arts schools, built by an instructor with 22 years on the mat.
dojoforge.app →The next tool is already on the anvil. Join the list and you'll hear about it before anyone else.
Get notified →The Philosophy Behind the Work
BUILT TO WORK
If it doesn't make the product better, it doesn't ship. The goal is software you'd recommend to a friend without adding a disclaimer.
DRIVEN BY THE IDEA
There's no committee to sign off on anything. If an idea is cool and people actually need it, we're already working out how to build it.
FORGED TO LAST
Something tarnished has been used hard and is still standing. We build tools to hold up the same way.
Keep Up With the Forge
I'll email when a new tool ships or there's a build note worth reading, glorious failures included.
No spam, and you can unsubscribe any time.Bring Me Something Worth Forging
Got a problem that needs a tool, or a question about the work? Send it over, or just say hello. Nic reads every message and writes back.
Meet the Founder
Nic Lockleair
Founder of Tarnished Labs
I'm Nic, and I've always built things. I trained in Mixed Traditional Martial Arts before anyone had a name for it and spent 22 years on the mat. Then I moved into tech to push myself and to better provide for my growing family, teaching myself to code along the way. You can take the man out of the martial arts, but you can't take the martial artist out of the man, so my first product, Dojo Forge, is for the world I came from.
The name Tarnished came from a fantasy story series I dreamed up one night when I couldn't sleep. To me it means you've been through it and come out the other side, always chasing a perfection that's never quite there. I want to build for the other communities I've been lucky to be part of: woodworkers, surfers, techies, and anyone working on themselves, which is where I spent years in martial arts. When I'm not building, I surf whenever I can. My order is a mocha or a hot matcha latte.
"NOT ALL FLAMES CONSUME. SOME ENDURE."