About
A builder who took the hits.
I'm Marc Uy Dagatan, founder of MAD Software, fighter, actor, and dad. My life is a strange mix of business meetings, boxing rounds, film scripts, and parenting moments that don't come with a manual.
What I build
Software, at MAD Software, including the Skills Router, a governed AI-coding system I open-sourced rather than keep in the company vault. I believe the models work better inside deterministic control planes, and I build the tooling to prove it.
What I believe
- Models do not govern themselves; someone has to own the rules.
- Bad decisions usually look reasonable at first.
- Creative outlets are expansion, not escape.
- Getting hit teaches more than winning.
- Honesty about failure is the least expensive lesson available.
What I've failed at
Hiring people on trust instead of evidence: the self-inflicted headache is on the record. Relationships that ended in silence. Businesses where I learned the lesson the expensive way. The kind of failure you don't post about: the kind that forces you to look in a mirror you can't lie to.
Why three lanes belong together
The systems you build, the operators you become, and the fights that shape you are the same discipline: showing up, taking the hit, and making the next call. Boxing taught me more about business than any book; acting taught me to be present; running a company taught me that governance is not boring; it's the difference between surviving and breaking. So this publication has one archive, three lanes, and no apology for the mix.
Where to start reading
The blog exists because I've lived enough canon events to know the value of sharing them, even when the stories aren't easy to hear.
Read the fight record →