The Late Night ProjectAbout
The story behind The Late Night Project.
Built from years of late-night work, real engineering experience, and the belief that the best software comes from people who can carry an idea from concept to something that creates value.
Studio Story
Why The Late Night Project?
The name started long before the studio did. In college, while working and finishing school, the late-night hours were when the best work got done. Once the distractions were gone, it was easier to think clearly, solve problems, and make real progress. That pattern stuck.
After earning a degree in Computer Engineering from UC San Diego, I moved into the professional side of software before I had even fully finished that chapter. Early in my career, I worked in QA, which gave me a strong view into how software is actually built — not just the code, but the decisions, tradeoffs, business priorities, and cross-functional work that shape a product from idea to release.
From there, I continued growing as an engineer by building and shipping applications directly. Over time, that meant developing a broader skill set across software engineering, system thinking, and product execution. The Late Night Project is the result of that path — a place to apply those skills to products, tools, and ideas I want to bring to life on my own terms.
What gets built here
Software products
Applications built to solve real problems and create real value
Practical tools
Systems, utilities, and workflows that improve how work gets done
AI-enabled solutions
Software that uses modern AI tools where they make products faster, smarter, or more useful
Focused experiments
Ideas explored seriously enough to learn something valuable, even if they do not become businesses
Founder
Oliver Thurn
My background spans AI and machine learning, electronics, and software engineering, but the most important thing I’ve gained over time is range. I’ve worked across different parts of the software lifecycle and learned how strong products are shaped by more than technical skill alone.
Starting in QA gave me an unusually practical education. It taught me how quality is built into software, how teams work together to move products forward, and how business and product decisions influence what ultimately gets shipped. Moving into development expanded that foundation into designing, building, and delivering production software.
Over the last two years, I’ve spent a significant amount of time learning the new AI systems and tools that are changing how software gets created. I don’t think the future belongs to engineers who only write code. It belongs to people who can think in systems, guide tools effectively, and turn ideas into working solutions. That is the direction I’m building toward now — using everything I’ve learned to create products and revenue streams that offer more freedom over what I build and how I work.
Focus areas
Software Engineering
Full-stack development, backend systems, and shipping production-quality software
Product Thinking
Understanding how ideas move from requirements and tradeoffs to something users can actually use
AI Systems
Applying modern AI tools to improve development speed, leverage, and product capability
End-to-End Execution
Taking software solutions from idea to something that can create revenue
Philosophy
How I think about building
Think beyond the code
Strong software is not just about implementation. It is about understanding the problem, the constraints, the business context, and what actually makes a solution valuable.
Build with range
The best builders can move across disciplines when needed — product, engineering, quality, systems, and execution. That range creates better outcomes.
Use tools well
Modern AI is changing the way software gets built. The advantage is not just writing faster code, but knowing how to direct tools effectively and make better decisions with them.
Make it real
Ideas are easy to collect. The real work is turning them into products, tools, and solutions that actually exist and do something useful.
Keep learning by building
The fastest way to improve is to keep making things. Every project sharpens judgment, expands capability, and improves the next one.
Protect the hours that matter
The name still means something. Good work needs space, focus, and uninterrupted time to think. That is where the best ideas usually move forward.