Founder-ledAccountable
Joshua Black
Founder & CEO
VisionAllocationStandard
— / StudioOperator-led.
Operator-led.
Product-minded. Technically deep.
Michai Media is a senior-led SEO agency and product engineering studio. We keep the senior team close, compose the right disciplines around the mandate, and stay accountable after launch.
13
Public case files3
Engagement lanesSt. Louis
Studio baseNationwide
Delivery— Thesis
Most firms optimize for throughput. They take briefs, they ship decks, they keep the lights on. We optimize for compounding — the kind of software that becomes the business, not a line item next to it.
Every engagement has to pass a question: will this build still matter in five years? If the answer is no, we pass. If it's yes, we go deep. That posture is why our clients tend to stay — and why we tend to stay close to what we ship.
— OperatorFounder & CEO
Joshua
Black.
Founder, operator, engineer. Michai Media is the studio layer, but Josh is also the operator behind products spanning FieldLadder, Charged Tools, Credit Orchard, Current Flowstate, ProChair, LoadLadder, Vulcan, and Proxxi.
Every engagement is run with an operator's instinct first. We build systems we would be willing to run ourselves.
— Leadership
One accountable principal. The right senior disciplines around the work.
Operating architecture / 2026Founder-led.
Founder-led.
Functionally deep.
Michai stays intentionally small at the center. Joshua leads the mandate directly, then brings in proven specialists only when the release needs their discipline. You always know who owns the result.
Michai Media
Senior discipline
Growth & Demand
Search, positioning, conversion, measurement
Senior discipline
Product & Systems
Architecture, applications, APIs, AI, data
Senior discipline
Experience & Brand
Identity, interfaces, content, customer journeys
Senior discipline
Delivery & Risk
Quality, security, launch, documentation, operations
Advisory layer
Independent counsel joins high-stakes decisions when the mandate requires it.
LegalSecurityFinanceIndustry
This is the delivery model: a founder-led studio with a trusted specialist network, composed for the actual mandate rather than presented as permanent headcount.
— Arc
FoundationMichai Media begins as an independent product and website studio in St. Louis.
ExpansionThe work expands into custom applications, APIs, AI intake, automation, and operator systems.
GrowthSearch, conversion, and revenue measurement become a dedicated lead practice.
PortfolioThe studio operates and supports products across trades, commerce, logistics, healthcare, finance, automotive, beauty, games, and city discovery.
NowThree clear engagement lanes connect SEO growth, conversion websites and apps, and custom software under one accountable studio.
— Posture
Fewer engagements, deeper work
We run a small number of builds at once. It's the only way to ship software that's worth shipping.
Commercial clarity
We diagnose before we prescribe, define the mandate clearly, and price the work around the outcome and operating responsibility.
Operator-grade decisions
We make product decisions with the operator in mind, not the portfolio page. The builds we ship, we'd be willing to run ourselves.
Upside aligned when it fits
We occasionally take equity — never as a substitute for cash, only as an alignment mechanism where it makes sense.
— Products & platforms
Selected client systems and operator-run products the studio has built end-to-end. When we say we build software we'd run ourselves, we mean it.
ScanWrenchAutomotive Software
● LiveWhole for GoodHealthcare Platform
● LiveFareSiftTravel Intelligence
● LiveCash Property GroupProperty Acquisition
● LiveFieldLadderVertical SaaS
● In buildCharged ToolsAI Commerce Operating System
● LiveStrat Mastery ProTrading Decision Software
● LiveCredit OrchardFinancial Software
● In buildCurrent FlowstateConsumer Game
● LiveProChairBeauty SaaS
● LiveLoadLadderFreight Platform
● LiveVulcan ConstructionOperational Software
● LiveProxxiSocial Discovery
● Live