I build things that work while you sleep.
I'm Jeff Bilbrey. Twenty years of building software: platforms, WordPress plugins, automation tools, internal systems, and a few projects that are hard to categorize. The work I keep coming back to is when something that used to take someone an hour every day just stops taking that hour.
It started the way a lot of tech stories do: I was the kid who took apart the family computer just to see how it worked. That curiosity never went away. It just got more expensive.
The Origin Story
In 2010, I launched Detroit Sports Nation out of pure passion for Detroit sports and a hunch that I could build something real on the internet. No investors. No team. Just a WordPress install and a lot of late nights.
It grew to 7.5 million monthly pageviews and $45K/month in revenue. Along the way, I learned every part of running a digital media business — from writing code to managing 20+ writers to negotiating ad deals. I rebuilt the platform three times after Google algorithm changes nuked our traffic, and came back stronger each time.
That experience taught me something most technologists miss: technology only matters if it serves the business. The prettiest codebase in the world is worthless if it doesn't move the needle.
While building DSN, I spent nine years as a Team Lead in IT Operations at Amrock (formerly Title Source / Quicken Loans family). I managed systems and DevOps for 180+ staff, ran 20+ CI/CD pipelines, and turned bi-weekly deployments into on-demand releases. When things broke at 2 AM, I was the one getting the call — and I cut recovery time from roughly three days to under 30 minutes.
In 2025, I joined Fletcher Media as Director of Technology, where I now architect infrastructure for millions of monthly readers and build the AI-powered tools that keep a 40-person team running smoothly.
What I Actually Believe
Automation isn't about replacing people
It's about freeing them. The best systems I've built didn't eliminate jobs — they eliminated the soul-crushing busywork so people could focus on work that actually matters.
Ship fast, iterate faster
I'd rather launch something real on Monday than present a perfect PowerPoint on Friday. You learn more from a live system in one week than six months of planning.
Tech should be invisible
If your users are thinking about the technology, you've already failed. The best platforms feel effortless — all the complexity lives under the hood where it belongs.
Build systems, not Band-Aids
Quick fixes compound into technical debt. I build things that scale — systems that work at 100 users and still work at 100,000. It takes longer upfront, but it saves you years down the road.
What It's Like to Work With Me
I'm direct. If something's a bad idea, I'll tell you — but I'll also bring a better one. I don't hide behind jargon or pad timelines. You'll always know where a project stands because I believe surprises belong at birthday parties, not in Slack threads.
I move fast and I'm hands-on. I'm not the guy who draws architecture diagrams and hands them off — I build the thing, test it, break it, fix it, and ship it. Most projects kick off within a week of our first conversation.
Whether you're a startup founder figuring out your tech stack or an enterprise team that needs someone who can see both the forest and the trees, I bring the same energy: let's solve the real problem, build something that lasts, and not overthink it.
When I'm Not Building Things
Detroit Sports
Lions, Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings — I've been through the rebuilds and I'm still here. Building DSN was basically a decade-long excuse to talk about sports for a living.
Studio Setup
My home office is part command center, part creative studio. Dual monitors, mechanical keyboard, way too many browser tabs — the usual.
AI Tinkering
I'm genuinely excited about where AI is headed. I spend my weekends experimenting with new models, building prototypes, and figuring out what's actually useful vs. what's just hype.
Got a problem that needs solving?
I'm always up for a good challenge. Whether it's a quick conversation or a full-blown project, let's figure out what you need.